The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-06-01


sum iently artistic anu complies ai'.4 rer-
Laiu legal Requirement. q mint WlI re-
fip+Ale iL ID the slau- " ep-i-- A--l-
maps dozen sucn coins VIII be turned ou-
tAPefllneI tally. frH or e4en being
stamped lu metal These samples are
paced IN the hands Of the memD-s 81
the committees on weights all mr- -.frcs
~ tHe senate and House. VINO choose ll-
one they like best. with the advice o..
the secretary Of the Treasury and the li-
rector OF The mint. The others are re-
turned 10 the treasury
The rejected ones are called pattern
pieces, or trial pieces" Formerly the
mint sold them % collectors over IFS
S3"i-ef az set prices, Wllcn We're very
Alsn usually Being hard 20 get they
were mlcn sought after. For the sake
OF cheapness. the dollars and coins OF
Hlsner nomination were struck most
commonly IN base metal Thus We're ma Ere
HpIiafS, nalI-eagles, eagles and double
r4Iles oI copper. platinum brass tin,
diumihum ana various compositions. The
treasury charged 81 for four different
man dollars Of 1851 iu copper, composing
2 Az, .e14 vac, wnie!h bore tine inscription, 'God
II will De- understood that such pattern
p4rDe5 We're not Intended 20 get into
Circulation. They Were merely for col
.ectoIs' VINO Tor gold eagle in copper
or tin did not hesitate 90 pay several
times its weight in actual gold. But they
were NOT dealt with fairly. Employees Of
inc mint turned out copies OF the trial
CONS surreptitiously ana flooded the mar
k-t WITH pieces for which the collect
OTIS We're paying big prices on the sole
ground that only a few We're supposed 20
oe 10 existence. This was done notably
IA the case Of the four copper half doi-
lars above referred 20. a set Jf which may
I9W be purchased for s.. The government
ulu hol even take the trouble TO investi-
gate this outrage with "a view TO pun-
lsnlng the perpetrators.
Any pattern piece IN gold is very rare
and valuable to-dav. Because The em-
plOyes Of the mint c0ull not monkey with
tndt metal-eNery penuvweigrh of IL had
10 DE accounted for. on the other hand
tney had copper and tim 10 burn. Some
trial coins at present are scarce and pre-
clous IN certain metals. while common
anu almost valueless in others. tt VIII
pe seen thaJ the collectors mad good cause
lot complaint in this matter; but the
injury ulu not stop there. Having sold
tne pdttern pieces, the government sub
i"Cillly utcldfeu TABOO against them
anu threatened TO coutiscate them when
SFyytt touLiu ~ tne POSSESSION OF private
S1,i - niger an. CtSN elahu mrs
~ &c - = q stoH UT. Mn .iall' lu5h ulfec ?
ieotjons ~ NM ~ PIactita-ly selzgu the col
49, I - -. y" LiIue man, VINO hlIuSeiI
I,erjoi - 0'i eO'0i VI 'ile mint al an ee-IlieI
Mr. tSir,bou sot,,a,t,. -.,,,,,,,,7 .t. ..,,1. 20
time he put a sion 10 he selling of Dat-
tern pieces a the mint. and issued circu-
lar fOrbiddtnE all dealing IN sDch trial
coins by collectors and others. He even
went so far as TO declare that all pieces
of the kind found IN the possession of
private individuals should be seized as
contraband wherever found. He was not
able to carry the matter quite SO far
however The ground he took was that
such coins of base metals, many of them
being exact reproductions of higher de-
NOMINATIONS as TO form might be gilded
ana passed on on the unWary or other
wise misused. Furthermore, they We're
speclIlcahy intended for the use of the
s9Nernmenti ana ought not to be IN nom
The order in question was promulgated
in me-, lSS5 Since then no trial coins have been
Solu oy the treasury, ana no collector has
been able to procure them. In 1892 great
enorts were made to procure patterns or
designs OF the new half dollars, quarter
dolar ana dime, but without success. At
tempts IN the same direction with refer
ence TO the Columbian halves and quar-
tiers were equally fruitless. If the pat
terms had been secured the holder would
be obliged to keep his possession of them
secret Suppose that a fresh design for
the silver dollar should be adopted, there
Is 10 law TO prevent the Secretary of the
Treasury from presenting you with a
pattern But If you ventured to offer il for
sale the detectives of the secret service
would swoop down and grab it. Nobody is
permitted even to possess trial coins struck
since 1857.
m .
ence me b a feTg5n e tr -a5 piece IN exist
~ 49, ~ .+tt IT, 20 ~ q a. Cul.ies
Rem Of NIert6H VIZ lS OoseIse pears tne
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 10 " asnlls toh; Inc SILVER
Gaora,n eis5S az llaue was IurnlsheQ py
LuUi - ~ asItns tOIi, VINO sent some OF MS
t V"H i LII PtdCe from Mount y ernon TO
NJ NJ I 44illaueIPnIa mint Tor the purpose.
a. nus ny eOI.s nave historical as well
as humlsmatlc value. one of them In per-
tern piece for T0IFn SSo me nrst pat
in 1S49 OniV ono 80 " - -, ~ uc a 4
this Is now 9reservsd ~ tbe III 91,d ban 4Ha
adelnhia The ssi,r1, f, liiiiit III M a.
for Z a06 20 1870 "a li LeLusSu 70 sen II
naffeTn Of ~ 81, L. SGnGy Oh brooklyn.
"a "a ~ y ne same com IN 3rass struck
sS5 'y tue ule' was SOFA not long ago Tor
These ouar+ar do,1ors &, oon,or oo.o
ar 70 te resuiaT silver issue Of 1877
oacb Aii ~ y Ios % eSlsl' 1ney are worth SOL
f go ~ 1927 a rev patterns We're struck
vs. LIE LIZ u0liar as II was caued, which
MaS oL goiu with large mole IN the center
0I H. -, us, me Goin was bigger than an
9 9ie II rAght be convenient, too, to
STHb1iin8 su ! aoiI9rs atter the fashion OF
S Su,theSe taSn, from Whlch the idea was
Was mes oRen dowever the ring dollar
80 - ~. Co on, u worth adopting. II
MSs lldIElH SO ofqtnary as the social
fen1eS ~ oS SoiiiS OF 100. Lney were IN
s sfiTu 10 a dldd compronlse between
There was os4 n e. monetary of aY st9ndards
sii,Sar vas "GS q - piece OF soIu; dollar OF
ana sn1a inns 5si, d LsW grams OF gold
~ Stil5aller uoliar with less silver and