The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-10-26
THE MINOR COINAGE.
Money i'm Circulation Which Is Nef-
Their Gold Nor silver.

New York Sun.
In this. years controversy. oyer gold and
silver coinage at the ratio of 16 to l, or any
other. all consideration of minor coinage
and the minting of metals not considered
largely sidetracked. Yet of such minor
money neither gold silver nor bills
there was nominaily outstanding at the be-
ginning of the present year $2o, 600 600. though
how much was actually outstanding is not
perfectly clear for with the lapse of time
there is always large loss OF minor COINS;
and silver especially the former, are prac-
tically indestructibe
The great bulk of the minor coinage OF
the United States. however, is still extant:
There are, first of all, the five-cent nickel
pieces composed of Is per cent. copper and
pieces. to the amount of $13. SOC. 900. These
five-cent pieces began to be coined in 1856,
and since 1873 they BEEN Legal tender Se
W vreaee' Was 'f begun in March 1865,
1890 they The, weighed thirty grains each. and
are composed, as the scent pieces, of IS
per cent. copper and 20 per cent nickel.
The total value of these 3-cent coins is less
than $1,000. GOO. They are legal tender up to
25 cents. Then come, in the declining scale,
the 2-cent pieces coined before 1854 and
ers of the Sun will concur In believing,
ninety-six grains each. These 2-cent pieces
were of bronze, composed of 80 per cent.
copper and per cent. of tin and zinc to-
gether. There are 5000, 900 worth of them
still outstanding There are three grades
of pennies known to the Treasury Depart
mint. First, chief, and most familiar are
the ordinary bronze pennies, such as one
pays for the Evening Sun: for instance
the penny with the Indians head on one
side. and the shield of the United States,
laural wreath, some arrows. and the
words Zone Cent on the other. These
pennies weigh forty grains each and are
composed as were the old 2-cent pieces
of 50 per cent. copper and per cent. tin
nj r11ixy cd own dOt.r nv,
to % cents and there are 81, 100000 of them
outstanding. They date back their origin
to 1864, and continue TO be coined by the
government as convenience or necessity re-
Quires.
Then there are the nickel pennies of
whitish color which antedate. the begin
ming of the civil war, having been author
lied by act of Congress in 1857. Their min
tage was suspended in 1854 but notwith-
standing this there are still more than 81
100000 worth of them outstanding. bearing
always, 1t may be noticed, dates earlier
than 1864. They are called nickel cents;
but have really only IL per cent of nickel
to IS per cent. of copper The oldest of
American cents are; in fact. not cents at
all. but coppers. Their coinage was pro-
vided for in 1892 and they had the cum
bersome weight of 2st grains each. Suisse
quently this was reduced to POS and ulti-
mately to 1853 grains, but even at the latter
rate the old-fashioned penny or copper is
recalled as a cumbersome affair. 1t was
MADE m OF copper; ana though the coinage age
there We're at the beginning of the present
year 81, $50. STA of them outs standing.
The copper pennies date back more than
a century. but there is an American coin of
contemporary origin which is rarely if ever
seen nowadays. and in, the scale of value
ranks before even the old fashioned copper
penny. 1t is what is known as the copper
half cent. The coinage of these copper ha'
pennies was authorized by act of Congress
in April. 1892, and they weighed originally
132 grains, about three times much as
the pennies now in use. Two of them had
the same value as a penny, but the two
weighed six times more than the penny of
to-day. Subsequently their weight was re-
duced until at last it was got down to
eighty-four grains each and ultimately, in
1857, the coinage of them was abandoned.
There are now less than $4,000 of the ha'-
penny coppers outstanding. and it is gener-
ally supposed that most of them have been
lost. for certainly they are rarely seen in
active use.