The evening times., 1898-02-25
HOW UNCLE SAM MINIS HIS GOLD
Process by which Dust and Mug
gets Are Converted Into Coin.

lfram the Boston lI3nscflpi-D
Ever So much has been written about the gold
hat conc, from The Kiondke, but nobody seerns
q have thought Of inquirinC as 10 what becomes
si il after il has left the placer mines and The
Tukon region
of course. the miner brings IL inte tile United
states by steamer. done lp in canvas hag> and all
sorts of other packages. And the bulk oi d i
mus brought into seattle. WhicR Is convenient
port. In seattle thcrc l. trouble M converting
the raw metal into the ordinary currency 81 ihe
realm. The merchants accrpi A. hi weight, ~
readily A. any other form of money. and ihe
banks are always ready customers for gold.
Most ci the miners, laden with the yellow
wealth. take il directly 10 the Seattle banks, and
deposit ii. Just II il were dollars. TREY re
ceive credit for il in the WAY: but ordi-
narilH the banks act simply as agents iof the
sale OF The gold 10 the Government htie Nain,
YOU see. adsertiscs 10 buy all gold that l. offered
with mo iiuit the quantity. IBIS purchasing
Office nearest To Seattle i al Helena. Mont -
the banks which eventually get ali the gold ac-
ceptCd l,y the merchants forward the stut To
the ASSAY office at Helena. and there !; Is re
ceived and paid tUr. The payment Is made inn
meiiatclN un it, receipt by Treasury checks.
N. then. sou a EIncr Just returned ironi
the kondikc with q bag ot gold YOU may con
u into everyday money al vert short notice
The Treasury check returned 20 You through the
bank Is fur only - peT cent OF the cSiifnstcd
value OF the dU~t and nuggets. itlat sou get
without any delay at al. beyond The time re
quired for expressing the stuff to Helena and for
Ihc return OF the check by mail. The balance
due 60 yoU soon yotIT gold has been
subjected To- the necessary assay. You have a
right under the Law. 10 receive gold coin Tor
Your CHECK. If you choose 10 ask for a. II YOU
make such demand the Treasury VIII give you
paper money. bur The check Is really payable IN
gold ii you WANT ID. The idea back ot tllis j.
thnt am mau has a right 10 offer gold TO
the United States Government and receive gold
coin IN return.
cost by the Government Every gold com con-
tains its fan face value in that metal, plus
percentage OF copper added 90 harden IT,. The
minting 81 This costs something. and foT tins
nOthing j. charged In other words, Uncle sam
gives manufactured article of money in return
Tor raw material Furthermore. d must tc con
sidered That gold pieces suffer aTprcuiaflc loss
by abrasion while IN circulation. Even gold coins
in bags II the Treasury lose something OF their
value by being iostled about This j. a dead los
10 the Government which only protects itself by
fixing a --limit OF tolerance II j. called.
When more than a fraction ot gold piece has
been lost by abrasion ii is accepted only by
weight.
1t l. a rather interesting fact that good deal
Of gold from Australia Is now coming INTO tins
country 10y way Of san Francisco. II goes direct
TO the mint in thar city. and Is there converted
into coin. But whatsoever the source of the raw
gold. the treatment il receives on reaching the
mint on ASSAY Office Is the same. Each lot 81
klondikc dust. with its sprinklinC Of tiny mug
gets. is put into a closed vessel called cIgci-
bic. The crucible j. placed in a furnace, and
when the metal l. melted il is poured into a
mold, which forms It into brick called ''har.
While in the crlfCible the molten yellow stuff Is
stirred c0Iis sntlv and thoroughly. 80 that all the
materials IL contains NAV he distributed equally
through the har. For OF course, the gold is
spt to DE combined with more or less OF silver.
copper and even lead.
The bar. when cool is sent TO the weighing
room. where the assayer chips from IL very
small scrap. and this scrap is put through an
elaborate process for the purpose OF determining
exactly how much gold il contains Eventually
il j. reduced TO a hit of absolutely pure gold.
and the weight Of this bit gives 10 the assaver
his data for reckoning the exact value Of the bar
ON this reckoning the payment check Is made out
The gold brick, being now the property OF Jncie
Sam. j. subjected u a chemical treatment. by
which the silver and other impurities are sepa-
rated from IL and the yellow metal j. obtained
in perfectly pure state. In TINS state d looks
meIp like red gravel than ANYTHING else. aud mo-
BODY would think of stopping by the Walsde 10
pick up a handful oi such stuff
The red gravel is pressed by hydraulic power
into big cakes. resembling angel-iood cakes in
shapes. b,it much bigger. These cakes are worth
ahou. sSu. .0p0 apiece. Next. the material OF
which the cakes made T. melted again in cru
cibles. with the addition OF 10 per cent OF cop
per and the stuff is cast in bars for coming
Each bar Is sliced lg a machine into several
strips, which are put under powerful roller and
squeezed to just the required thickness for the
coins. Then the strips passed beneath
Dunrh which cuts out Of them the blanks for
The goid pieces that are 10 be. Various me
rhanica processes, requiring no detailed descrip-
tion here. are gone through incidentally; but st
length the com blanks put one by one in a
stamping machine. which gives TO them the beau
tiful designs that make the gold pieces OF the
nitpd States current at face value all over the
world