Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1896-12-17
peNNIES OF
r,,o Mint Making Tests to See if They
Are Practicable.

Are BractlcaOle.
IN the short period that will elapse
Lofore Congress cOnvenes again in De
cember a series of interesting expert
sorts IN coinage will be conducted at
.ho mint in this city. Metals and al
\ ,ors heretofore untried for the purpose
Grril he tested and stamped into token
coins. Their availability as substitutes
for the alloys of which the minor coins
-nickels and cents-are now made
will he a%scertained and samples sub
mltted to Congress.
of all the countless possible alloys to
no obtained from copper, tin, nickel
and aluminium in different combina-
tions, perhaps fifteen or twenty may be
found fairly satisfactory. 1t is possible
that one or two of these may advan-
tageously be brought into use for gen
oral coinage. No fault has been found
with the present 1c. and &c. pieces.
The experiments are merely ordered to
keen in touch with the times and to
gain a knowledge of resources. The
Philadelphia mint, while having no
regular experimental department, is
well Quipped to make the tests.
Aluminium, which has never yet
found a place in the currency of any
nation, IS TO hp worked m into trial
coins. 1t is also to be given Il chance
in new alloys. Aluminium is a metal
of which but little has been known I'M
til recently, and it has been found USE
full. in so many ways that a sort of pop
ular idea prevails that it would be good
for coins. Chief among its advantages
would be its very light weight. Cents
made of it could be readily distinguish
ed from coins of the same size by this
remarkable lightness alone.
DR.. d. X. futile, the chief refiner of
the mint, who knows all about the
properties of metals, is somewhat
skeptical, however, as to whether alu-
minum will come out of the proposed
tests with flying colors. 1t is extremely
difficult to anneal, and when heated
wiz bNNlNlNllli III llht bNllCl lllNNNlu VI
becoming plastic. There would be
trouble in rolling it into the long strips
from which disks are cut preparatory
to stamping. OF course, it can be
worked, but not with sufficient ease
and rapidity to make it practicable for
coming on a large scale.
Pure nickel has recently been coined
in Switzerland. but it has been found
just as difficult to handle as aluimnum,
though for a different reason. Such
great heat is necessary to bring it into
condition for coming that the operation
is slow and expensive. While pure
nickel coins might be satisfactorily
made in the minis of Switzerland, it
does not follow that the same would
be true at the Philadelphia mint, which
Is called upon to turn out fifty times
as many 5-cent pieces as the minis Of
that country, and could not spare the
time to work over them.
The Scent coin now in use contains
only % per cent. of nickel. the remain
ing 20 per cent. being of copper. Nickel,
more than any other metal, has the
property of giving it's color to an alloy.
Even an alloy of 80 per cent. of copper
and 10 per cent. of nickel will be nearly
white. The advantage of using Il great
er proportion of nickel in the Scent
piece is therefore not apparent. espe-
clally as more than % per cent. of it
make the alloy refractory.
The experiments at the mint will in
clude different combinations of nickel,
copper and zinc, forming the alloys
Known under the head of German sill
yer; copper and tin, which produce
bronze; aluminium and copper. which
make aluminium bronze. German sill
YER has been used for coins by Il Of
the small South American states, and
proved fairly adapted for the purpose.
Bronze is commonly used for coins Of
small value. 1t is doubtful if aluminium
bronze in any form will be found ac-
ceptable. as it is hard to work, and has
u yellow, brasSy appearance. resem-
ping gold, which is to he avoided in
all coins Of small denominations
fnllaQelDhia Record.