The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1898-09-30
C~URIOSIT1ES IN COINS.
(St. Louis Post-Dispatch,)

In the bulletin Of the Museum of
Science and Art, University of Penn
sylvania, appears an essay by A. E.
O~uterbridge. jr., entitled "Curiosities
of American Coinage" which recalls
the different phases of this subject
from the time when the Hudson Bay
Trading company took beaver skins as
currency. Money was scarce before
revolutionary times, but now it is COM
p~aratlvely abundant. In Massachu-
sets, prior to the revolution, specie
was at times so scarce that laws were
passed legalizing the payment of taxes
in skins, cattle and farm products, and
in 1884 a musket bullet passed current
for a farthing, though no one was
compelled to take more than forty-eight
bullets at a time.
All good things, money among them,
emanated from the delectable region
around Plymouth Rock. Massachu-
sets established a mint in 1852, 40
years before the establishment of the
national mint in Philadelphia, and the
pine tree shillings' began to roll
forth. A mistake in calculation made
these shillings, now extremely rare,
5h grains too light. After the Massa-
chusetts mint had been in active op-
GRAFTON thirty years Maryland estab-
lished a mint. These two colonies is
sued silver coins before the revolution
airy war, and several other American
colonies issued copper coins. After the
revolution silver was coined by the
different states and by private individ-
uals.
The mint was established April 2,
1892, providing for $40, IS and $3.50 gold
pieces, 81, 50-cent, 25-cent, 1o-cent
pieces in silver; 1-cent m half-cents
in copper. Copper coins were struck
al the Philadelphia mint in 1892, some
Of which bore the head of Washing
ton on one side, but he disapproved of
the device and suggested the substi-
tuition Of the head Of Liberty. Since
that time no American coin has ever
displayed the head of any individual.
Up to the middle of this century
many coins were issued with impu-
nifty by private companies, and in 1851
the assayers reported that twenty
seven different kinds of gold coins, is
sued from fifteen private mints, had
been received and assayed at the
United States mint at Philadelphia.
The earliest private coinage intended
for use in the American colonies Eek
cept the Bermuda "hog'' coin) is known
to numismatics under the general
name of Rosa Americana" and the
story Of these coins is interesting. In
the year 1922 Mr.. Wood, an iron
founder at Wolverhamption England,
claimed to have discovered an alloy
suitable for coins, consisting Of cop
per, zinc n a small proportion of
silver. Through the influence, of a ia
vorite of George l., known as the
Duchess of Kendall, a patent was is
sued for coming 300 tons of tokens"
for Ireland and the colonies of North
America. The amount of Irish coin
vas limited to s525, 900, a great sum
at that day. Sir Isaac Newton was
appointed comptroller for the crown
oS " SoAAAy VI V4yVV O. yOoA " z SA1oI
the rules we're complied with.
Thousands Of Woods metal coins
were struck for uses in Ireland and
the issue would probably have been
accepted by, the people: without ques-.
ton had it not been that, Dean Swift
mercilessly slampooned: the scheme in
".Drapier's Letters and brought it
into ? n fcr.or,,Aos %0 e,,hb. n ~ o1%o~,% &l,o
the royal license to Wood was bought
at "a price Of SIS, 1000 a year for
fourteen years. This did not kill the
project for coming money. tor the
American colonies, and. many. pieces
were actually struck. On the Diverse
appears. the head Of the. king and on
the reverse a full blown rose; with
the legend .'Rosa 'Americana"'and the
date '.1722," On the later issues the
head of George. II, appears and the.
date 1873.
In 1880" Templeton Reid. of Georgia.
established a private mint and coined
$40, IS and $3.50 gold pieces, which cir
culated freely through the south. In
1881 Christopher Bechtier Of Ruther-
Yorktown, N. c., began coming on a
larger scale, and in a few years had
issued several million dollars worth Of
gold coins Of denominations of SO, IS,
$3.50 and 81. In 1881 the re-
ported that several Of the private is
sues Of gold coins from California are
close limitations Of the national coins;
some assay nearly up to the nominal
value, but many fall below"
A SO piece Of the Pacific
only yielded 1886 in gold. A lot Of diff
forapf Hono~o}pofio~s o~-no-.xs--