The Lamar register., 1896-05-02

value in the market
that is created by collectors. For exam
pie. mention might be made Of a hand
kerchief-fulI of fractional currency
sent In by n miser's heirs not long ago,
the notes being of the earliest issue and
signed by General Spinner's own hand
Such curiosities are sometimes picked
out and preserved By shrewd clerks, but
this is not supposed TO be permitted.
and the bulk of them ind their way to
the melting-pot or the macerator.
Strange to say. the most precious speci-
mems are old-style copper cents.
OF these big copper pennies ils.ooo.-
900 are unaeeounted for. having never
been returned to the treasury for re-
demption II is very rarely tina; one Of
them Is seen in circulation. and nearly
all Of them have been lost so completely
as to have passed in effect out Of exist
ence. Some of them are exceedingly
rare and command high prices. The
rarest OF all is the cent of 1893. Any
body who has one of that date. In first
class condition, can sell Il for $3.50
Some of the oid-fashioned half-eents
are valuable also. Not long ago 3. H
Collins, a dealer in this city. bought n,
n sale In London I2s copper cents and
a half-eents for 81 300 Since then be
has sold part of the lot for s2.i0o and
has $500 worth left
This dealer could have furnished to
any purchaser the same coins in poor
condition for one-tenth of the price he
paid. For It is an odd fact that the
market value OF piece OF metal money
from the collectors point OF view is de-
termined chiefly By its state OF preSar-
walton. A coin may be ever so rare
and yet be nearly worthless n worn 70
any extent. The precious cent OF ii99
can be got for ~ or even less, II In poor
condition. but It's value Is multiplied a
hundred fold IL It retains the gloss of
the minting The copper pennies one
sees occasionally in circulation are
black with age. but the nncirculated
cent half a century old. which has been
put away and carefully kept from in
jury by the collector. still retains some
what of the yellow sheen of the new
ly-stamped piece This, with its cameo
design uuTubbed and unworD. Is what
is called perfect" coin.
All United States coins of dates prior
TO 1853 are worth a premium. II in per
feet condition To such point is this
matter carried that a piece in a good
state OF preservation is actually dam
aged by cleaning. from the collectors
point of view From the standpoint OF
the numismatist an uncircnlated coin
IS something sacred. 10 be wrapped in
channels skin and to be kept even from
exposure to the air. The most common
of the pennies of early dates Is thar OF
1898, which may be purchased for as
little as cents. yet perfect specimen
will fetch $40 A perfect cent of 1875
can be sold for 800. 1t was the first
penny issued by this government.
Plenty of 1908 cents can be bought for
ten cents each. but perfect and un-
circulated example will fetch $50. Only
half dozen perfect coins of 1893 are
known. perfect cent Of 1904 has
brought $500. One may buy an 1906
penny for ten cents, but perfect one
is worth 800
In the year 1924 no fewer than fifty
four dies were used for minting pennies,
At that time all the coins were struck
by hand, and not as now, by machinery.
The method being defective, the dies
were broken now and then and had to
b. replaced by others. Variations in
tie cutting of the dies gave rise to rec