The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1894-04-13
QUESTIONS OF THE DAY.
Making Silver Dollars.

which weigh in the aggregate 49,
900, 900 ounces. This silver is from
$685. to 1000 fine-that is, so far
as can be made so, it is pure silver.
These bars are of different sizes.
None of them exceeds 1920 ounces
in weight. The majority ranges
between 800 and 1000 ounces.
Some years ago silver refners used
to bring in 1900 ounce bars, and
not infrequently these heavy bars
broke the crucibles when they were
put in the furnace to be melted.
Therefore, the director of the mint
requested the refners not to cast
bars of more than 1900 ounces.
One reason for the slight imperfec-
ton that is found in bars of silver
is the accumulation of dirt on and
in them-a slight accumulation,
: but unavoidable. Another is the
oxidation of the surface of the silver
bar. There are other minor causes.
theoretically also, the silver dollar
turned out by the mint from a GER
tain amount of bar-silver should
represent the weight of that silver
plus the weight of one-ninth as
much copper (silver of standard
finenses containing nine parts
of silver and one part of copper.
But in fact there is a great
waste of the precious metal as
it goes through the mint and the
amount of silver which Uncle Sam
gets back in dollars is not the
amount which he intrusts to the
melter of the mint. This waste
varies according to conditions. At
one time (more than twenty years
ago. the waste was so much above
the average that the Secretary of
the Treasury had it investigated;
and the investigation proved that
the wastage was on sliding scale
which could not be fixed and which
depended largely on chemical con-
ditions which no one could control.
There is another theory which diff
fers from experience in handling of
coin. The common understanding
is that one coin weighs as much as
another coin of the same denomi-
nation when it is issued from the
mint. AS matter of fact, there is
a constant variation in the weight
of standard dollars. Moreover,
there is a variation in the fneness
of standard dollars as well as in
different parts of the same dollar.
So, while one part of a dollar may
come up to the Government stand
ard or even exceed it, another part
may fall below that standard. The
variation is not large, but it is I'M
avoidable. Therefore, when the
assayer of the mint wishes to obtain
the quality of a certain "melt,o he
takes his samples from the melting
pot and not from the ingot. But
all of these variations are so slight,
comparatively, that they are not of
commercial importance. There is
no discrepancy between the coins
which go out from the mint which
would warrant banker in refusing
to accept any one of them, because
it was below the standard. Ger
taiuly there could be nothing above
the standard to excite the cupidity
of anyone, when the silver dollar is
worth intrinsically, today about
forty-s six cents.
For every bar which is in the
vaults of the mint at Philadelphia
there is record on the books of the
superintendent. That record shows
the weight and fineness of the bar
Many of the bars on storage were
bought in 1890, when the Sherman
law first went into effect. They
have remained untouched from the
time when the stamp of the assayel
was put ON them, Now they will
be taken out and melted with cop
per to form an alloy. The exact
proportion of silver to copper should
be nine to one, but in the melting q
little less than the measure of cop
per is used, SO that, by adding cop
Der later in small quantities, the
alloy can be made as nearly as pos
sible of the exact standard. 1t is
easier to work the alloy up by
adding copper than 1T is to work il
down by adding silver.
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