Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1896-01-08
MINTING GOLD COINS.
A CONSTANT STRUGGLE TO KEEP UP
WITH THE DEMAND.

Mint = Coinage of Fractional Silver.
The turning out Of bright gold coins,
In eagles and double eagles, is going on
ct the Philadelphia mint these days as
rapidly as other necessary coinage will
permit. The government found itself In
close quarters last winter. not only by
the reduction of the net gold reserve in
coin and bullion, but by the absolute ex,
haustion of gold coin which legitimate
ly belonged to the treasury. Coin was
held against gold certificates, but con-
stituted trust fund which the govern
ment had no right to touch 1t was bor-
rowed without consulting the owners,
and greenbacks and Sherman notes were
thereby redeemed in coin which could
otherwise have been redeemed only in
bullion.
Secretary Carlisle determined not to
be caught in this way again, and large
quantities of bullion were transferred
to the Philadelphia mint for coinage as
soon as the crisis was over. Work is
now going on to the extent of SO, 900, 900
or 81, 900, 900 month, and if there
had been no Withdrawals of coin the
treasury would be many millions stron-
ger in this respect than in the spring.
A net increase of coin can only be
shown when the work at the mints is
more rapid than the withdrawal of coin
OF f1,a c,,l,t ria tlat ba h,,1
fund still stands at 500, 398, 800, and
the coin which belongs to the govern
ment is less than $3S, 900, 900.
This is a better showing by 2,000,-
900 than on Oct. and will be improv-
ed by the end of the year, when gold
Withdrawals are again likely to become
heavy.
The government is constantly getting
gold but it is largely in the form Of
bullion fresh from the mines, which is
deposited at the mints and assay offices.
The result is constant struggle by the
mint officials to keep pace with the
Withdrawals Of gold coin. Gold coinage
is executed at San Francisco to the
amount of about $40, 900, 900 per year,
but the gold comes entirely from western
mints and assay offices, and none is sent
there from the east.
The recent closing of the New Or
leans mint was misrepresented by one
of the press associations as an important
event connected with the coinage Of
standard silver dollars. This coinage
was substantially suspended several
months ago, and the closing of the mint
was simply due to the exhaustion of the
available appropriation which has been
made for several years by congress for
the loss in recoining worn pieces of sub
sidiary silver. The subsidiary silver ac-
cumulated for several years in the treas
ury and could not be recoined without
authority of law, because the face val
ne Of the pieces could not be reproduced
from the worn coins for the amounts
recoined. This recoinage has now pro-
gressed so far that the number of badly
worn pieces is small, but the public
has been so taken with the new de-
signs that it is constantly demanding
them in exchange for the old pieces, even
where the latter have been little used.
The fractional silver now in the treas
ury is about $500, 900. but only a
small proportion of this is in worn
coins A part of the daily payments
must necessarily be in fractional silver,
and it would probably require work
ing balance of 81, 900, 900 to $4,000, 900
to cover this amount. One or two more
appropriations by congress will proba-
bly, clean up the excess of worn coins
and reduce future requirements to a
small allowance to cover the average
annual wear.
The treasury is not now coming any
silver dimes, for an abundant supply
for years to come was turned out dur
ing the craze for dime savings banks,
which absorbed the little silver pieces
as rapidly and completely as rat hole.
The termination of the craze for banks
threw the dimes back into circulation,
and they have become somewhat of a
drug upon the market.
Niekels are also in excess of demands,
and none is coined from new bullion.
Such nickels as drift into the treasury
in very bad condition or of ancient de-
sign are sent to Philadelphia and re-
coined, but they form but small
amount per month.
Most of the subsidiary silver coinage
is now carried ON at Philadelphia, but
the traces of silver found in gold bullion
at San Francisco are permitted to be
coined there.
There is no pressing necessity for the
coinage of standard silver dollars at
present for the redemption of Sherman
notes, although these redemptions have
reached nearly $15, 900, 900 in standard
silver dollars during the past two years.
The present supply will meet the de-
mands of this year, but further coinage
may be required next summer or autumn
to supply the usual demand for paying
the pickers of cotton and moving the
crops.
There is considerable demand for
pennies, and they are being turned out
at philadelphia in large numbers. -Bos-
ton Herald.