Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-10-21
But the Cent Plays an Important
Part in Trade.
FACTS ABOUT OUR SMALLEST COIN
1t is More in Demand Now Than
Ever Before.
USEFUL AND HARD WORKING

| most useful and Woodworking member of
| the coin family is Of neither of these ma
terials. 1t consists of 50 per cent Of copper
| and per cent tin and zinc, and bears on
| its face the legend lone cent" The rise
of the cent to this position Of supremacy
has been rapidly going on the past few
| years. 1t doesn't require a person of ad-
vanced age or long memory to recall the
| time when the humble coin was practical
| ly unknown west of the Mississippi. Now
| it's use is well-nigh universal, and the de-
mand for 1t is increasing rapidly that
the Philadelphia mint is compelled to turn
| out one-cent pieces at the rate of nearly
| 1000. 600 per month to keep up the supply.
| According to the estimate of the director
| of the mint, there are at present something
| Ike 600, 600, 600 pennies in circulation en-
gagged in carrying the small 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-
| the-slot machine. which has spread over
| the land like the locusts of Egypt with
| in the past two or three years. A single
| automatic machine company in New York
| city takes in half a million pennies a day.
| AS there isn't a crossroads village in the
| country that hasn't chewing gum, kineto-
| scope, music or weighing machine operated
4 in this way the number of coins required to
l
| other invention responsible for the rise of
| the cent Is the bargain counter" The
| craze for forty-nine-cent and ninety-nine-
| cent bargains makes work for lot Of pen
| mics. Supt Milman Of the New York SUBJ
| treasury said the other day that it was no
| unusual thing for one of the great depart
| ment stores which make a specially of
| bargains" to take $4,000 worth OF cents
| 1,0O0,OOO pieces-at time. The penny
newspapers and in some places three-cent
| 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..
| Milman, land there are some very curious
| facts about 1t. The subtreasury is the
Gearing house for the pennies In circuia-
ton in the metropolitan district and the
penny is for us a barometer, calendar and
| an accurate index of business conditions.
As n Barometer.
"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 larger denominations fell
| off one-third. A heavy storm or the sud
| den 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 COM
| ing to us for exchange. All through the
| summer the pennies accumulate our
| he nds. but when cold weather comes and
| the children get back to school, and retail
| trade revives, there is a great demand for
! them. At present the minor coin division
has tens OF thousands of dollars worth of
| pennies on hand. but they are beginning
to go out. and by November l we shall
| probably be compelled to call on the mint
| for fresh supply. The holidays demand a
| lot Of pennies. and with the approach of
| Christmas our cent pile neits away amaz-
ingly.
| '"There is no better indication of lively
| trade conditions than the cent. During
| periods of dizziness they always accumulate
On our halids. and when trade revives
| they begin to circulate rapidly again.
| They come to us from the slot machine
| companies, the newspaper offices and the
| street railways, and they go out to the de-
| partment stores, the toy and confectionery
! shops and the small trader generally. OF
| course. some of them come and go through
| the banks.
| Mountains of Pennies.
| Come this way" said Mr.. Milman, 'if
you want to see the way we handle pen
Mes" and he led the way to the minor
| coin division, where half dozen clerks
we're 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. Il suppose there are
| some 1OO.OOOOGO 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
| l, 600 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 a million or
| SO from the slot machine company" said
| the superintendent. land here's boy with
a 500 bill who will get ten bags Of pennies
for it. That's the way they come and go
! Talk about the volume of currency affect
| ing business. 1 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 penny market people would
| realize what a highly important coin 1t is
for the reason that there is no substitute
| There are several unique features about
the coinage of pennies, and the work is
/ managed In somewhat different fashion
| from the turning out Of gold and silver
| COINS
One Dollar Per Thousand.
| In the first place, although the United
] states government is the only authority
| entitled to indulge in the manufacture OF
CONS our Uncle Samuel does not prepare
| the blanks from which pennies are made
| He finds 1t cheaper to let out the work by
| contract than to do 1t himself, and 1t Is at
present In the hands Of a Cincinnati firm
| large enough to turn out 100 pieces EACH
| 1t is not known exactly how .auch the gov
eminent pays for these blanks, but the
price is in the vicinity of S1.25 per LOO, or
a trifie over one mill for each unstamped
| cent
In the disparity between the real and
| face value of the cent there is considerable
profit for the government, for the reason
that great proportion of the pennies
coined will never be presented for final re-
demption. An enormous number Of cents
/ are lost In one way or another every year
They work their way into the sewers or the
ground, children place them on railway
| tracks to be fiattened out or otherwise
mutilated SO that they will not pass cur
| rent. One hundred thousand per year il a
| small estimate OF the loss In this way An
| other source OF profit for the government
| Is In the recoinage Of old pieces, which were
all larger and intrinsically more valuable
| than those now in use. In the three years
1S94-06 the gain from recoining old copper
cents, Scent and 2-cent pieces into current
pennies and nickels was So. 55S.3.
How Cents Are Coined.
When the copper sheets ready for stamp
ing reach the Philadelphia mint. where all
our minor coins are made, each one II test
Il al m hot he s. a,n< he