The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1894-11-25
UNSEEN GOLD SUPPLY.
1T MOVES Nv A STEADY STREAM
sUBELY TOWARD TIE MINT.
K.epsakes and Jewelry May be hoardsd'
hut the Mint Gets Then-Howh uiiion's
cleaned With Fire and Boiling Acid

"oId Gold and Silver Bought Here
was a sign hanging in front of an Eighth
avenue shop that attracted the atten-
ton OF two passers-by few days ago
! one of the psssers was a sun repCItsI
and The other was MIR. j. Robiey puhs-
! lison REGISTRAR OF Deposits In the fnll-
! adephia Mint, who probably knows iiole
about the unseen supply OF soid tlah
any other man in this county Inc In, IN
| seen gold supply is term the Mlilt
Ieople use 10 describe the tons oil golu
and silver that lie in the hahaI 49,
boxes in bureau drawers-old solu pe pen,
| ciisI old gold watch cases hesleCle11'
! pocket pieces, broken chains, spectdCIJ
| rims. and thousand other bits 81 Iiie.a 81
| that have an intrinsic value hOs. % %
| these things are sure TO find their way "
the Mint sooner or later, and when they
do IL Is Mr.. Dunglison VINO inaheS a., or
entry Of their weight In me MIN f,S,,, T,s
books. His name will have IaiHilia'
! sound to all the doctors because Puhs
lison's Medical Dictionary Is iou hd III
! every medical library. Mr.. Dunghsoh
of the Mint is a son OF me duthor va
the Dictionary. ,,,u r,,r,-
| lison said, as he read the sign gu
would be surprised to know how much OF
the gold and silver That we turn out :"
| coin comes to us through such ptdCcS;
| There are thousands of buyers OF olu
bullion in this city and tens OF thousdnus
| of them throughout the co lntry. IN the
| aggregate they send US great many
| tons of bullion every year. and so put
a great deal Of morey into circulation
| that would otherwise lie idle.
There is no piece of gold or silver so
| large or so small" he continued, mat the
dealers will not buy It. DO you know that
! gold filling out Of extracted teeth make
a considerable item In the mint eoIu
! They do. When dentist extracts q
! tooth he is sure 10 extract also any goid
that may be in it, and these tiny bits
! after a while make a little bOxfui, which
is sold to a dealer. The inea seems I'M
RleSsab but il Is All 9o 6u Mofn IS ren S
and cleansed In the mine before II Is
| coined.
You will frd that al these dealers
would little rather buy old silver man man
| old gold because there is more proht
! in IT, The price of silver fiuctuates 80
much that they can always buy 1t Tor
| considerably less Il an Its real value
but the price Of gold never eve r. V1 i,es I'm IN
| all civilized countries; and this Is 50
| well understood that the dealer must
pay pretty nearly that much fer IT, lie
! generally increases his pfont a Httle ny
| paving in goods instead of in cash. The
! dealer must be able to do a little crude
assaying himself, or ne Is likely TO make
mistakes Gold jewelry, for instance, Is
rarely made Of pure gold. our Ihlht
| standard for pure bullion Is 100, and we
! rarely get a watch case or ring or
| chain that assays more than 90 snoWlnt
that it is half gold or silver and nan
alloy. You think you are carrying gold
| watch. but the chances are ninety-nlhe
| in a hundred that the cases are halI
! copper. The cases will reach the mint
some day, almost to a certainty anu
! then the copper will come out.
The flow OF old jewelry 10 me MINT is
almost as certain and steady as the now
of water down an incline. the ola
trinket is broken and useless ahd you
! lay il away. Perhaps II is an heirloom,
! or for some other. reason you are al
| tached to IT, and you would not thlhk OF
! selling il. But a rainy day may CONE
| and YOU are glad TO sell it. In any case
You are sure TO die some time, ana your
! heirs will not care for the chain; then We
get it, and turn II into dollars or eagI-s'
| 1--WE do not buy bullion in small guam
| titles at the mint-nothing less than WV
| worth of gold or silver al ume, anu
| then We do not pay for II until 1t mas
| been assayed II you bring us Aln worth
| of metal that you suppose to b. SoIu' we
| weigh it and give YOU a receipt for 1t,
| and three days later you can call ana re-
! ceive the money for whatever gold we
| find in g. No matter II the lot contains
| only a dollars worth Of gold, we VIII
receipt for the weight and extract the
! gold for you, and pay you for H. But
| you lose all the base metal. because IN
| the refining everything but the gold ana
! silver is destroyed. That Is, It IS prac-
| tically destroyed. because our work is
with gold and silver only. and we do not
/ make any effort to save the base metals.
| IL could easily be done, Dul IL Nbuli Ipt
! pay for the time and trouble. We couid
| separate not only the gold ana silver;
| but the copper also. and the lead ana
| whatever else IS present.
| when you take a quantity Of old gold
! to the mint to sell, your metal IS not
| mixed with any other metal. Edch lot IS
| kept separate until IT has been assayed'
Your gold is put into an iron box with
| two locks, and when its turn comes the
| box is taken 10 the melting room. where
! IL Is opened by two men, each or whom
| has a key 10 one of the locks. The metal
! is put into a crucibe. with little bofaN
! to prevent its sticking. The cruclDle IS
! put into a furnace, and when the metal
is melted ii is moulded into bar. mat
| bar contains all the metal in your lot
| whether ii be gold or brass, and 1t - the
| assayer's business to find out how much
| gold il contains. While IL Is in the cru
| chile it Is stirred constantly ann
thoroughly, so that all its metals may De
| distributed equally throughout the bar.
| when the bar is returned 10 the
weighing room the assayer chips from y
a tiny piece that must weigh Just halt
a eramme, or n grains troy. The bar
| and the sample are numbered TO cor
| respond, and the bar Is locked up in the
| iron box again. But the chip is taken
to the assaying room, where 1t Is put
! through one OF the most delicate me
! Chanical processes in the world NO
| danger of visitors following the chip TO
| the assaying room, for Il man VINO is
| working with scales that will weigh the
thirteen hundredth or a gram CANNOT NC
/ talking to visitors.
You are not familiar with the bone
| ash Gun | suppose, that we call the
| Cuhel? TO the uniformed that Is one
! OF the wonders Of the mint. 1t Is sim
| plv a little. shallow cup made of bone
ashes moistened and pressed, but II does
some wonderful work. II VIII absorb
! any metals that are melted in 1t, except
| gold and silver That sounds a NIUE
! doubtful, but 1t is a fact that can readily
| be accounted for on scientihc principles
! You melt a lump Of mingled gold ana
copper in this little cupel, and every
| particle Of the copper disappears, leaving
! the gold alone in the bottom OF the cup
| That is the first step in assaying gOld'
| taking no account OF a dozen minor opera
! tions that merely lead up TO 1t.
/ This melting in the cupel does not
give pure gold, however, for gold is often
| allowed with silver. After the tiny put
| ton that remains in the cup mas CODED
sufficiently, it is hattened WIN haiiIh H,,
! and run between rollers till II comes out
| a little spiral that we call a cornet; THIS
| is put in a little vessel Ike q thimbie
| with slit in the bottom, and is boiled In
nitric acid. The acid dissoiVes the silver
which runs cut through the slit. but II
cannot dissolve the gold. The tiny chip
! that remains in Is pure gold.
! "You see the reason for this process
now. | suppose. The sample weighed ~
! gtAins at the beginning II the pure gold
! taken from it weighs half as much, then
! the sample was one-half gold. and con-
| seq entity the bar is one-half gold What
| ever proportion the weight OF the gold
bears to half gramme, that Is the pro-
portion Of gold in the bar:
| The refining OF silver Is an entirely
different process. Our visitors never tire
| of seeing silver disappear In the big
tank. There stands a big tank OF
boiling water apparently, and We
drop In Jumps Of silver, and they
a tGan I'm M yFa fol- rnn