The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1894-07-22
TOO HEAVY FOR PURSES.
A Swedish Coin That Weighs Over Onc
Pound.

Pound.
When Charles XII, of Sweden, be-
came most uncomforta bly, embarrassed
through his passion for fighting, he did
not seek the aid of a monetary con-
gress in Brussels to settle affairs. He
had a minister of finance, one Baron
Goertz. Russian, whose ideas, it would
seem in this exacting age, were re-
freshingly original. and with the aid OF
this Baron Goertz Charles took the bull
by the horns. What the king did was
right. So when Charles NIL set his
regal seal on copper half-dollars that
weighed one pound and a quarter, his
people accepted the inevitable and car
ried the queer coin around, even if they
had to get horse when IL was neces-
sarv to have more than five or ten dol
lars in coin of the realm.
In the history of the fierce northern
wars in which Charles MI. engaged
there is perhaps no better evidence of
his remarkable characteristics in ex-
istence than this copper half-dollar.
One can scarcely believe it was ever
used for money-ponderous. unwieldly
and crude as it is. All IL needs Is -
hole to appear like safeguard which
the Swedish hotelkcepers of his time
might have used to append to keys, 50
that guests could not wander away in
a fit of abstraction with the open
sesame to ones apartments. BY ac-
tual measurement it is five and one
half inches long by four and three
fourths wide, with an average depth Of
one-eighth to three-siXteenths of an
inch. Its correct weight is twenty
ounces avoirdupois. The composition
Is copper from the mines of Sweden.
taken in its purity and pressed into
service without special efforts at re
finement. The weight represents the
value of silver half-dollar, or daler,
in I'LL. In shape this extraordinary
coin is rectangular. with the corners
cut off for convenience in handling.
If the coin can be taken as a speci-
men of the mechanical skill possessed
by King Charles mint the knowledge
of treating metals mechanically in
those days was very crude indeed. APP
parently the coppersmiths took big in
gOts of the metal and fiatteBed them
ont with heavy sledges upon anvils,
leaving marks of the hammer at every
blow, so that ridges and bollows were
formed on the face of every coin. When
this was done and the weight tested
the coiner took a silver half-daler
stamp and impressed II no on the
center of the bit OF boiler plate. This
stamp had been used only on silver
! T. Il 4. 81
disappeared copper was substituted in
proper proportions. The kim said:
This is silver. and It was silver 70 all
inteuts and purposes in the ewes Of his
patriotic subjects. Then al each OF
the four corners was stamped the re-
verse silver half-daler sigma crown
with the letters &C. T. :. and the date
l7Ii. underneath. all embossed with
heavy rim The three letters stood for
Charles King OF Sweden
In the present day King Charles
half-daier has one good feature-it
looks artistic ana i q quaint CUrio-
The veriigris and conc-etions Of aEes
have settled in the crevices and depres-
sions. With the softening influences
o. time upon its face j. points back
ward TO a period when Norscmeu were
undergoing q Christening. and when
the higher civilization that followed
was breaking over the farthest limits
Of Europe There are ONLY a half
dozen or - 81 these relies in existence.
A new wav Of solving the curtain
question that Is certainly convenient
and by no means ugly J. 70 have Two
sets OF sash curtains. oue Tor the upper
end one for the lower half 81 a VIM
dow. 10th are hung on -O,is- and ccn-
So - .No parts - the- they can e
parted IN the middle. The uppe- It
saouI5 be made long e1su-n - Se'l
about an inch over 1he top of ths lower
- They NAV hc made 81 uusI-,
siIk or any other fabric. with eagls
htusS-itehed- frilled. OF trimmed with
lace. The arrangement ! good one