The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-05-24
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been determined, but it will probably aver
age a cent each.
We came into possession of an old Span
ish mint in Manila, and Congress left 1t to
the discretion of the Philippine government
whether its new coins should be manufac-
tured there or in our minis. The Manila
mint is an old affair without the equipment
necessary for such an undertaking. 1t was,
therefore, decided that it would be cheaper
in the long run for our minis to do the
work. This they will do at a reasonable
charge until new Manila mint is COM
pleted. The new Philadelphia mint has
turned out the greater number of the new
coins thus far, but that at San Francisco
will do more than half the work in future.
because of the greater convenience of ship
ment from that city. Both of the money
factories are now working full blast.
AS fast as the bricks of metal are de-
livered at each mint by the smelling and
mining firms they are being hurried to the
melting room, thrown into the keg-shaped
plumbago crucibles and melted up. The
liquid metal is then ladled out in three
spouted gray dippers and poured into clamp
molds. The molds are dashed into tanks of
cold water. The ingots. thus hardened are
cleansed, numbered, assayed. rolled into
long lath-like strips, tempered and rolled
again. The silver ingots. which when leav-
ing the molds resemble bars of solder, in
point Of size, leave the last rolling process
in long fat strips. those for the thinnest
coins being six feet in length These
passed through the cutting machines,
man on one side feeding and one the
other taking out the straps, which emerge
filled with rows of round holes. from which
have been punched the planchets, or
blanks, which fall into a tray beneath.
Planchets about the size of twenty
tavo piece are cut in a single row from
each strap, the smaller coins in double
rows.
THE FINISHING TOUCHES.
Uncle Sam is as strict in every particular
with the Philippine coins as he Is with his
own money. All of their blanks pass to
automatic weighing machines. which. al
most as quickly as the eye can follow them,
sort these smooth disks into piles of
Standards" lights and "heavies." All
of the Eight" planchets are being con-
demned and melted over. The others are
then "milled"-that is. given their raised
rims.
The American girl is putting the finish
ing tuoches upon these strange Oriental
coins. The milled planchets in the exact
sizes of the peso and subsidiary centavo
denominations are fed by deft-fingered
young women to rows Of tall, fiat-faced,
steel machines. Each fair operative sits
before a sort of Manager filled with the
glistening disks. which she piles into cylin-
drical stacks and drops into vertical tube
in the center Of the machine. Two dies
coming together stamp the diverse and re-
verse design upon each coin at the one
blow. anu at the same time the saw-edge
is added. Each of these young women is
turning out pesos at the rate of eighty
three per minute; 80 centavo and 20 certavo
pieces. ninety per minute; centavo, Ito
per minute. and copper pieces. 40 per min
ute The finished coins are then spread
upon boards which count them out at a
tremendous speed Ten thousand little 10
centavo pieces are counted in eighteen sec
onds. The new coins are then placed in
bags inclosed in iron-shaped cases. sealed
with wax. Then they are ready for ship
ment to the Orient.
WHY SYSTEM WAS NECESSARY
I asked Director Roberts to explain to
the popular mind why these coins, no diff
ferent from our own, were adopted for
people under the sovereignty of the United
States. "The Filipinos in the past have
used Mexican dollar" said he, 'but since
silver has been so greatly discarded as
money metal throughout the world fiuctua-
tons In It's value have been so frequent
and so wide that commerce is very serious
ly embarrassed in any country which at
tempts to use a silver standard. So there
has been a disposition in Mexico. Indo-
China, Siam and the Straits Settlements TO
abandon silver and adopt a gold standard,
and the same considerations which have
led them to do so have led the government
of the Philippines to adopt the same policy
when discarding the old currency the
government was abliged to decide whether
to adopt the currency of the United States
or that which has obtained in the Philip
pines. The objection to adopting the cur
rency OF the United States was that there
would be violent change in wages, prices
and existing contracts, and 1t was feared
| that great friction would result Take, for
example. a man who is getting 20 pesos q