The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-11-14
1vERWoRKED COPPER CENT.
ONE BILLION OF THEM NOW IN CIR
CULATION.
,o-ner on the Penny Market Would
Re An Object Lesson on the Cur

II. An Object Lesson on the Cur
rency.
From the Washington Post.
demonstrating the rumpus raised by
tba disputing friends of gold and silver, the
most useful and hard-working member of
Tho coin family is Of neither of these ma
teria,s. It consists of IS per cent. of copper
and ; Der cent. tin and zinc, and bears on
q ,ts face the legend, "one cent" The rise
4 of the cent to this position of supremacy
has been rapidly going on the past few
i wears. It doesn't require a person of ad-
1,anced age or long memory to recall the
time when the humble coin was practical
~ unknown west of the Mississippi Now
II its use is well-nigh universal, and the de-
nand for it is increasing so rapidly that
the Philadelphia mint is compelled to turn
E ont one-cent pieces at the rate of nearly
ON 600 per month to keep up the supply
According to the estimate of the director
of the mint, there are at present some
thing like 1000 100000 pennies in circula-
tion engaged in carrying on the small
81 business of the country.
Two recent devices have been largely
responsible for the increased use of our
only copper coin. One is the penny-in-
8 the-slot machine, which has spread over
the land like the locusts of Egypt within
the past two or three years. A single
81 automatic machine company in New York
CITY takes in half million pennies day.
AS there isn't crossroads village in the
country that hasn't a chewing gum, Xxi
n Microscope, music or weighing machine OPP
Grated in this way. the number of coins
required to keep them all going is enor-
q NOUS. The other invention responsible
for the rise of the cent is the bargain
q counter" The craze for Accent and 99-cent
s. bargains makes work for lot of pennies.
4 Superintendent Milman of the New York
subtreasury said the other day that it
was no unusual thing for one of the great
department stores which makes a special
ty of bargains" to take $4,000 worth of
cents-1, 000, 900 pieces-at time. The pen
ny newspaper and in some places, Scent
street car fares, have also increased the
field of operations of the one-cent piece.
1.-The cent is really the most interesting
and least known of our coins" said Mr..
Miman, land there are some very curious
facts about it,. The subtreasury is the
clearing house for the pennies in circula-
ton in the metropolitan district, and the
penny is for US barometer, a calendar
and an accurate index of business condi-
tons.
"Why, in the middle of July there was
a week or more of cold, rainy weather,
and the supply of pennies coming in for
exchange into large denominations fell off
one-third. A heavy storm or the sudden
coming of cold weather anything that
keeps the penny-spending part of our pop
ulation at home, is accurately reflected
In the falling off in the supply of cents
coming to us for exchange. All through
the summer the pennies accumulate on
our hands, but when cold weather comes
Al 4. l. IL IL I'D
retail trade revives, there is a great de-
mand for them. At present the minor
coin division has tens of thousands of dol
lars worth of pennies on hand, but they
are beginning to go out, and by Nov. 1 we
shall probably be compelled to call on the
mint for a fresh supply. The holidays
demands lot of pennies, and with the APP
proach of Christmas our cent pile melts
away amazingly.
There is no better indication of lively
trade conditions than the cent. During
periods of dullness they always accumu-
late on our hands, and when trade revives
they begin to circulate rapidly again.
s'They come to US from the slot machine
companies the newspaper offices and the
street railways, and they go out to the
department stores the toy and confec-
tionery shops and the small trader gen
orally. OF course, some of them come
and go through the banks.
come lIllS way, SdlQ MI. Mllmdn,
you want to see the way we handle pen
Mes and he led the way to the minor
coin division, where half a dozen clerks
were buSily at work. In one corner of the
room was stack of canvas bags reaching
nearly to the ceiling and making a good
sized pyramid. Those are all pennies"
said the director. 81 suppose there are
some 100,OO0,000 pieces there, and We have
more below" In another corner of the
room was a stack of loose coins piled high
above the heads of the clerks, who were
busily counting them off into the canvas
bags. The pennies are kept in bags of
1000 each, and when they come in they
are all counted over, An express wagon
drew up at the door, and behind it's grated
door could be seen the canvas bags piled
high. There's a sample lot of half mil
lion or so from the slot machine company"
said the superintendent, land here's a boy
with a misunderstanding bill who will
get ten bags of pennies for it. That's the
way they come and go. Talk about the
volume of currency affecting business.
wonder what some kinds of business would
do if we locked up just what pennies we
have on hand and didn't allow them to go
out. If somebody should corner the PEN
ny market people would realize what a
highly important coin 1t is, for the reason
that there is no substitute for it,"
There are several unique features about
tHe coinage OF pennies, ana lue WOTk Is
managed in a somewhat different fashion
from the turning out of gold and silver
coins.
In the first place, although the United
States government Is the only authority
entitled to indulge in the manufacture of
coins, our Uncle Samuel does not prepare
the blanks from which pennies are made.
de finds it cheaper to let out the work by
contract than to do it himself, and 1t is
az present in the hands of a Cincinnati
hrm They prepare the copper blanks in
sheets large enough to turn out 100 pieces
each. 1t is not known exactly how much
the government pays for these blanks, but
the price is in the vicinity of $1.25 per 1000
or trifie over one mill for each unstamp-
ed cent.
In the disparity between the real and
lace value of the cent there is considerable
profit for the government, for the reason
mat great proportion of the pennies
coined will never be presented for final
redemption. An enormous number of
cents are lost in one way or another ev-
cry year. They work their way into the
sewers or the ground, children place them
on railway tracks to be fattened out or
$50 Iaf haf fbazf will not