The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-11-07
'CnEAP, BUT MUST BE HAD.
RIM COPPER CENrs Are THE COINS
va ONE CAN DO WITHOUT

N,.v,thatnudinx tho rumpus raised oy Inc
d,aput,nR friends OF gold and si'vor, inc mosO
rss,ul and Woodworking member OF the COIN
,ar,,lv IA Of neither OF these materials. ltcon-
ats NJ e5 per cent. of copper and D per cont. tn
and zinc. and benrs on Its face the legend one
can't The rise OF the cent 10 inns pcs,sion =.
sunrcmncy has been rapidly going on the pass
to,. yosrs. It doesn't require q person OF adj
,onced arc or long memory to recall the time
,vben the humble coin was practically
| unknown west Of the Mississippi. SOW
| its use Is wcll.nigh universal. and the demen"
| for IL Ia increasing so, rapidly that the fhii".
acInhia Mint is compelled to turn out ohocono
pleoes at the rate of nearly 100000 per monln
TO keep up the supply. According g 10 inc esIr.
mate of the Director OF the MINI sncio
present something like 1,OooroOo,ooo pennio.
In circulation. engaged in carrying on she small
business of the country. e
Two recent devices have been largely rcspon-
sible for the increased uso OF our only Copper
coin. One Is the pcnny-in.thc'slot machino'
which has spread over the land like the locusts
of Egypt within the past two or three years. a
single automatic machine company In Ne"
York city takes in half a million pennies a day.
As there isn't q crossroads village In the country
that hasn't q chewing gum, kinctoscope, music
or weighing machine operated in this way, the
number OF coins required TO keep them all going
is enormous. Tho other invention rcsponsipio
for the rise OF tho cent is tho bargain counter
The craze for Accent and 99-ccnt bargains makes
work for n lot of pennies. superintendent MIL
man of tho New York Sub-Troasury said the
other day that 1t was no unusual thing Tor one OF
the great department stores which makes q
specialty of bargains" to take $4,000 worth Oh
cenis-l. 900 600 pieces-at n time. The penny
newspapers. und in some places three-cent streee
car fares. have also increased the field OF opera
tions of the one-ccnt piece.
AZ uln cant ia rcally tho most int eStlnR anu
least. known OF our coins. said Mt. M,,mai e
T, and In there hTes are s0m is t FsfT Cls ssi9n House FOR the
pennies in circulation in the metropolitan als'
trist, and the penny is a barometer, n "a sa,emaer'
why. in tho middle Of July there was a week
or more of cold. rainy weather, and the supply OF
Nominations fefi OH one-ihird. a, heavy storm,
or tho sudden coming OF cold weather. anythinG
that keeps the penny spending part OF our popu-
lation at home is accurately reflected in the
falling off in the supply OF cents MS coming om,,,G,r 70 ti u
pennies ccumulnte on our hands, but when
cold weather comes, and the children get back
great = st@ demand adj for them. Al, present the minor
coin division has tens of. thousands Of dollars
to Wo go OUT Si po "nd by Now Sov. ! We, shall probably DO
compelled to call on tho min, for a fresh supply.
The holidays demand u lot of pannics, and with
tho approach OF Christmas our cent pile meiis
away amazingly. s,o, ., u,.,w ,r,a,
conditions than the cent. During periods OF duI.
ness they always accumulate on our. hands, ana
wUen ITauc TcNlfeS lhVS pSbih W uio 81
They come to us from the slot machine COM
WAYS, and they 20 out to the department stores,
the toy and confectionery shops, ana the small
an" %c xS s1f tSis w a"s 'n said MI. Mllman. ~ you
!. led the way to tie minor coin division. where
half a dozen clerks were busily at work. In one
eood.silcd pyramid. Those are all pennies,"
, ioo, ooo.oo pieces there. and we have more
! below In another corner Of the room was z
V the clerks. who were busily counting them of
!. into the canvas bags; The pennies are !. in
I are all ''e Counted over, An express wagon
{ drew up at the door. and behind its grated door
9 ""Tnere's a sample lot Of half a million or so
Q from the slot machine company. said the sn,
!: BB Eli 9Sn VIII ~ Eet ten aaFf bags q : of pe Mataf ro s'Y Y.
: That's the way they come and gos Talk about
wonder what some kinds Of business would do
! II we locked up Just what pennies we have on
. boiy s Should corner T.sp the penny market people
. would realize what a highly important coin 1t
i. is; T Ios en are s ss n9 spp nniqus t features iui about tn.
coinage of pennies. and tho work is managed in
u somewhat different fashion from the turning
8 out of golu and silver coins.
a In the first place. although the United States
@ Government is the only authority entitled Ia in
a dulgc in the manufacture OF, coins. our Uncle
g Samuel does not prepare the blanks from which
, p pc, 9hs w are % h. eSntI ns 'i iRan !, it t 4" 4 I,m to Il!
n and it is at present in the hands of n Cincinnati!
= firm: They prepare the he, copper 966PBr ia blanks a. in sheets E I,
y not known exactly how much the Government
: pays for these blanks. but the pr!c is in the VI
cinity OF 81 .25 per 900, or n trife over one mil
for each unstampedc cent.
o In the disparity between the real and tho face
value of the cent there is considerable profit fO
a the Government, for the reason that a grea
o proporti9n o. the pennies coined yin never b,
. number of cents are lost in one way or another
every year. They work their way into the sew
way tracks 10 DO ~fiattened out ur otherwise mu
tilated SO that they will not pass current. On,
n Of the loss in this way. Another source of prot
:; for tho Government is. in the recoinage OF OLE
q q more valuable than on those hos now in use; In TIT
into cnrrent pennies and nickels was s7,5Bs.s 80
+ When 1T th Sc fofp %p.s ;r sshe9 cts, ready for stamping
10 coins are made. each one is tested to sec that tn
70 alloy is in the right proportion. Thence the!
- sheets are cut into strips. from which the ronn'
d banks { called [El S,in ,Iro are punched Pun an,
10 o machines, whore they receive the impression
n, The stamping machine consists of a heav,
IS cnst.iron arch above, a small round table, a
lSs which the operate. sits. 4 nearly round bras
g Knee Joint to the ]icverof the arch. This tri
N angle holds the die, which is forced down on tn
m blanks or /" planchets drop through a hoIloS
is tube upon feeders, which carry them beneatI
10 the dies. Any imperfect pieces arc rejected O.
the women operators. who acquire wonderful
dcxterity in detecting them.
From the stamp the coins go to an automati
weighing machine. This Intelligent piece q
=, mechanism, n German invention. perfected by
10 former Director of the Mint. throws out nj
pieces that are above or. below tho require
"A weight, and an electric alarm attached to
Fu warns the operator in case two coins try 4
In pass into the receptacle at once. The pieces q
sd correct weight pass on TO the counting room
40 and tho others are sent back to be rccast.
~ Pennies are not counted by tho Ianor!ous mr.
OF cess of handling each piece. but by a devic
ne known MS the counting board" by which so
no arc counted at a time. The counting board
NC an inclined plane, with columns the exact widt
ed OF n CENT separated by copper partitions /
he height exactly equal to the thickness OF til
re coin; The cents arc spread oyer this board an
~ fall into the grooves prepared for them, all su
o. plus cOins falling off into a trough Thnn III