Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1896-05-06

80 -hs Silver Dollar, Half Dol
lar and Dime.
-...- likely TO be a change in the sill
~ before long The treasury IS
....-.5 with ;he design on the pieces
., s-s. The face on the hah dollar.
t,-sr and dime IS particularly
bssil s. ID looks TO The right.
sherry on the dollar gazes toward
Sour Years ago Congress save
...r for altering all Of the metal
, " .hs realm, with a view 10 lis
..... improvement. The half, quarter
lime were the only ones touched, and
-.sr.- is 40, deemed happy.
dollar IS open 10 change without fur
amortization from Congress. It's
. l.seu was adopted in 1873. Al
.,r. number of dollars I'm different
...... were struck by the government. and
r.-s 5t ,b- N to-day fetch high prices,
rlr. one Of them was the so-called
...-...1fv dollars which bore a female
--+.. with an enormous head of hair held
sr by nothing visible There were
fy halves and washlady quarters
ra. schoolgirl. dollar Of the same
Ems. exhibited "a youthful profile with
rr- barr held by a ribbon. Only two
hes. ara yX,ant, and are worth SEQ
lr--- -hs question Of adopting a new de-
s-.f fora coin is being considered a Ium-
--.rsvQe. mental pieces are struck, says
Boston Transcript correspondent.
ANYBODY IS at liberty 20 send Ia a drawing
~.Ie. aud If IL is deemed sufficiently
and complies with certain LEGAL
requirements. mint Will reproduce it in
srsr. % coin. Perhaps "a dozen such
1911 he turned out eNpermeu,ally.
each being stamped in metal These
samples are placed in the hands of the
rs % ,ae Committee on Weighs and
Measures iu rhs Senate and House who
Roe one they like best. WITH The ad-
rsrs -le Secretary Of the Treasury and
-s rs.1r OF ,he mint. The others are re-
tr.t ,1 -he treasury.
The rejected ones are called pattern
T'e.-s" 1r ",rial pieces" Formerly the
min. soI them 90 collectors over its couu-
tsr q. ser prices when We're very high
usually. Being hard 20 ge;, they were
sorsh, after. For the sake OF cheap
ness -1e dollars and coins Of higher de
ruiUs-i1rs were struck most commonly
81 base metal Thus were made dollars.
hf eagles. eagles and double eagles of
copper platinum. brass. tin aluminium
ami various compositions. The treasury
CHARGED $50 for four different half dollars
az l iu copper, composing a SET, which
bore 'he Inscription: "G0l Our Trus-."
p WIZ Dee understood that such pattern
TH--s were not intended TO sc, INTO circu-
ri-u. They were merely for collectors.
who FOR a gold eagle I'm copper or t.u did
o.. hesitate 90 pay several times It's weight
,r actual gold. Bu, they were not dealt
with fairly. Employees Of the mint turned
o.t copies of ;he trial coins surrep,iuously
ard flooded the market with pieces for
which the collectors We're paying big prices
on tae sole eround that only a few were
supposed to he i'm existence. This was done
notably In the case Of the four copper half
dollars above referred 20. a set OF which
may now Doe purchased for 81. The gov
eminent did not even take the trouble TO
investigate This outrage with a view %
Furnishing the perpetrators.
Any pattern piece In gold Is very rare
and valuable to-day, because the employees
~ The mint could not Monkey wiki that
metal; every penuyweighJ Of &; had to be
accounted for. ON the other hand. they
bad copper and tin to- burn. Some trial
c-s a present are scarce and precious
.r certain metals. while common and al
mos. valueiesS I'm others. It viii he seen
That The collectors had good cause for
complaint In this matter; but The injury
"a not stop there. Having sold the pat
fern pieces at outrageous prices the gov
eminent subsequently declared a taboo
a-a-s' hem, and threatened 90 coChscate
tsn wherever they were found I'm The pos
session Of private individuals. Under Mr.
taraaUd's first administration, Mr.. KIM
0a. Then director of the mint seized the
collections OF H. L. Liuderman. who HIM
sale Hll been director Of the mint at an
period.
S.r kimhaI actually stopped the sale
a. Alr Lildermau's collection At the
s~. time. be put a stop TO The selling Of
pattern pieces az the mint. and issued a
CIRCULAR forhddiug an dealing in such trial
coins hy collectors and others. lie even
went So far as To- declare ;ha, all pieces Of
20. Kind found 10 the possession of private
.'.iai.s should DE seized as clntraband
Wherever found he was not able to carry
.' matter quite so far, however. The
-uni la took was THAI such coins of base
falls ma0y of them belng exact repro
customs of hgher denominations as to
nsa, De gilded and passed off on
'Tary. or otherwise misused. Fur
they were specifically intended
use of the governmeI., aud ought
a DO Uon-ofiicial hands.
rer n question was promulgated
Since then no trial coins have been
he treasury. and no collector mas
~ .o procure them. I'm 1892 great
were made TO procure patterns Of
Tor The new half dollar, quarter
and dime, hut without success. At
H he same direction with refer