The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-04-01
LOOK oUT ron SLICK COIN.
The Government Does Not Redeem ia
and the POssessOr Must Bear the

and the POssessOr Must Bear the
Loss.
There Is a little bunco game which
Uncle sam seems TO be working on his
suffering subjects. and the people OF sa-
vannah as well as everywhere else are
coming in contact with Il frequently.
Look out for the abraiied. or IN COM
mon reracular, the slick silver coin.
Persons are in danger OF being made vic
tins through their own csrelessness in
this respect. whenever they receive silver
in change. The street car conductor will
often return 10 the passenger a lot Of
nickels, dimes and quarters punched be-
twesn the thumb and forefinger in such
a manner as to conceal the abraided coin,
and II the passenger counts Il carelessly,
as IS usually THE case, the conductor may
congratulate himself on relieving himself
or the company of a burden. The street
car companies are not, as a rule, COM
PEELED % find market for the worn out
coins they may receive in the course Of the
days business
The slick and worn out coin, too. is just
as likely to come in the center of a pack
age of nickels, dimes, quarters or half
dollars as the case may be. The watchful
teller will not often let these coins pass
IN number of carefully wrapped pack
ages, the value Of time generally binders
the teller from making an Investigation
and counting each coin. In most instances
the deDositor is required to put his name
upon the package, so that in case Of a
complaint by any patron to whom it Is
delivered, the responsibility can be shifted
by the bank to the person who brought
in the package.
Some people who are careful will no,
give a street car conductor a bill to
change, generally for this reason, and
many times a careful examination is made
OF packages of silver received across the
bank teiler's counter, not so often through
rear OF evil design on the part of the tel
Ter as Of the carelessness or designs of
those who wrapped up the silver.
The coin that is avoided to such an ex-
tent that 1t is scarcely recognizable ex-
cept from its size is practically worthless.
me unfortunate pOssessor Of a worn sill
yer coin must stand the loss, unless he
can md some careless tradesman who ac-
cepts IL from him without a murmur.
The United States has made no provision
for the redemption of such coin as be-
comes worn and unacceptable in the course
of its circulation, and it is worth no more
than its value as silver bullion to its pos
SCISSOR, whic is about 81 cents on the dol
lar. The government will pay this amount
for abraided coin. but in addition to the
loss to the possessor of such coin of the
difference between the face value and the
bullion value, there is, of course another
loss from the wearing away Of the silver,
so that silver coin the face value of which
is 81 will be redeemed perhaps for 40 to As
cents
Banks, in the course Of their transac,
tons often come into possession of this
coin, and Vt becomes necessary for them
to ship 1t to the government mints, where
they are given in exchange the value OF
the bullion contained in it. Such treat
ment of coin by the government appears
manifestly unjust, though 1t mey be con-
sidered necessary for protection against
swindling operations, such as clipping the
coin or sweating it.
The government stamps a given value
on coin, and it would seem that when
that coin has done its service, and passed
so long from hand to hand that it is no
longer acceptable in circulation, the last
person who is so unfortunate as to ac>
quire 1t should not be made to stand the
loss, especially when the government gets
full face value for it when 1t leaves the
mint. In the course of its travels a worn
coin must stop somewhere, and 1t cannot
be properly held that possession puts the
loss upon the possessor. Such is not the
case, of course, with gold coin which is
worth its full weight at any time and I'M
der any circumstances. This may be con-
sidered another argument against free
coinage of silver, for with more silver
coins afiOat the losses from this source
must necessarily be heavier