Woodruff County news., 1902-09-11
FACTS ABOUT COINS.
Government Loses in ccining Gold, bu,
 Profits on the Pennies.

A strange lnlng aDOut our cOlnlng
 system is that the government loses
 money in coining gold, but makes a
 big profit in coining pennies, says the
 Boston Herald. For instance, in a
 ten-dollar gold piece there is exactly
 ten dollars worth of gold and ten
 per cent. of copper-put in to harden
 the precious metal-besides the cost
 of minting. A silver piece of money
 IS about half profit, but the penny
 pays Uncle Sam best of all, as the
 blanks are purchased at the rate of
 $500 per million. That is, the United States government obtains
 for 3-10 cents the copper blanks
 which by the process of stamping are
 transformed into one dollars worth
 of pennies.
 What becomes of the millions of pennies coined each year by thegov-
 ernment IS an unsolved problem. To
 supply the demand the mint at
 Philadelphia must keep on turn
 ing out new pennies at an aver
 age rate of 4,000,00O per month.
 This useful little coin has its begin
 ming, of course, in copper mine By the process of smelting the copper is
 separated from the iron or lead or silver in the ore and is bought by agents who sell it to firm in Water bury, Conn. ,who are under contract to supply the government with cop per blanks-that is, pennies un- stamped, At Waterbury the new cop per is melted and mixed with tin and zinc, according to recipe prescribed by the treasury department at Wash ington, and then hardened into bricks. These are cut into slices the thickness of cent and the strips are passed through the machines with punches that work up and down with enormous pressure and stamp out the little round disks just the size of penny. These blanks are put up in strong boxes and sent by express to the mint at Philadelphia, where they are stamped with the head on one side and the denomination on the other.
 In 1776 was coined a New York cent. The obverse bears bust sup posed to have been intended for Gen. Washington in the costume of the continental army; encircling it is the | motto, "Non Vi Virtue Vici." The | reverse has the figure of liberty, seat ed on pedestal, holding in her right hand staff surmounted by liberty | cap and in her left the scales of jus tice. Around the coin are the words 'Neo Eboracensis," with the date in the exergne, 1886.
 The Vermont cents were coined for four successive years. One variety has on the obverse an eye with rays from 1t which arc. divided into 13 stars; around the coin are the words "Quarta Decima Stella;;" re- verse, the sun rising from behind the mountains, plow in the foreground, with the legend "Vermont Ersium Res Publica," with the date 17S5. Another type has on the obverse a poorly cut head with the words ''Vermont Auctori," on the reverse ''Inde ct Lib. with the date 17SS. with the same legend reads 'Et Lib Inde, 178S."
 The Connecticut cents bear date 1885, 1786 and 1187. The obverse has head with the words "Auctori Connec," on the reverse, a figure of Liberty holding a staff in one hand and an olive branch in the other, sur rounded by the motto ''Inde ct Lib" and the date. There are many va rieties of this cent, all of which are very poorly executed.
 Without date is cent having on one side the motto "Unanimity is the Strength of Society," encircling hand holding a scroll on which is in- scribed 'Our Cause is Just" Re- verse 15 stars in the form of a tri- angle; on the stars are indented the initials of the several states, Ken lucky heading the column. This was struck at Lancaster, England, in l791, for circulation in America and was called the Kentucky cent.
 In 1787 the commonwealth of Massachusetts ordered from its mint ] copper coin having on one side an