The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-03-15
ONE.CENT PIECES OF 1902
A HOAX THAT CAUSES ANNOYANCE
TO TREASURY DEPARTMENT.
Newsboys, School Children and Grown
People Expect to Get Thirty Cents
for One, but They Won't.

Washington Letter in Brooklyn Eagle.
United States Treasurer Ellis II. Roberts
and his assistants at the Treasury Depart
ment have been put to no end of work and
annoyance as a result of hoax perpetrated
on the public by a New York newspaper.
Under the mistaken idea that the govern
ment is paying big premiums 1902 PEN
MES. people in all parts Of the United States
are sending in quantities of coins of this
date, expecting to be paid for them at the
rate Of thirty for one.
One of Treasurer Robertss assistants
looked up helplessly to the Eagle corre
spondent to-day from a pile of letters re-
lating to 1902 pennies and remarked:
eff you could only stop all this it would
do US a world OF good. Please say that the
government is not offering any premiums
on pennies of 1902 or coins of any date: that
1t would be unlawful for us to pay more
than the face value for the redemption of
any kind of money. In addition to a flood of
letters on the subject, we are constantly
pestered by newsboys. school children and
even men and women, who come in with
anywhere from to 30 cents apiece for
as well as seriously interfering with cur
rent work. If we don't nail the lie before it
gets much further into the rural districts
don't know what the outcome will be-.
1t seems that some few weeks ago one of
the metropolitan dailies got hold of a yarn
to the effect that while some pennies were
being manufactured at the Philadelphia
mint a careless workman spilled bar OF
gold into the molten copper. The mistake
was not discovered until the pennies had
been run off and put into circula ton. In or
der to recover the lost treasure, the paper
went on to say, the pennies were to be re-
deemed at fancy premiums, and that the
treasury would pay is cents for every
penny of 1902 that was presented. The story
was taken up in other cities. despite its i'm
probable nature, and was printed every
where. 1t has now got into the patent lin
sides" that are furnished to country week
lies, and soon every child that has not al
ready been set on search for 1902 pennies
will join the hunt. In some sections the
premium has been run up as high as 80
cents.
THE SMART CASHIER.
One of the first persons to inquire of the
Washington officials as to the truth of the
story was the cashier of a Chicago bank.
He was in such hurry to get an answer
that he inclosed in his letter to Treasurer
Roberts a stamped envelope bearing a spe-
cial delivery stamp. The letters of inquiry
Mr.. Roberts caused few thousand copies
of the following circular to be printed and
distributed:
"The department makes no distinction be-
tween the various issues OF coin and cur
rency of the United States. neither receiv-
ing nor paying a premium in any case
None of the coins of the United States
have been called in All statements TO the
contrary are erroneous, and their origin and
purport unknown. Application for list of,
and correspondence in relation to, premium
coins should be addressed to some of the
coin dealers to be found in all large cities
Some of the correspondents of the de-
partment have actually sent in large num-
bers of pennies that are supposed to be half
gold, while others are prepared to forward
consignments as soon as the truth of the
alleged premium is ascertained. The Wash
ington newsboys heard of the tale some
days ago and have been on the lookout for
pennies bearing the charmed date ever
since. Their hopes are dashed when they
bring their prize pennies TO Mr.. Roberts S
office and receive the crushing news that a
penny of 1902 is worth more than PEN
ny of any other date. Two little tots about
eight years of age trudged into Mr. Rob-
erts's room the other day, having walked
all the way from Brightwood. a suburb
some miles distant. Each had nine or ten
of the pennies, the profits on which were
expected to repay the trouble OF the long
journey. They could not believe the news
that the pennies were worth only a cent
. each. and tearfully insisted that the pa
pers say So" One heartless but thrifty indi-
vidual comes TO the cashiers room every
few days and gets & worth of 1902 pennies
and disposes OF them TO innocents at adj
vances OF anywhere from 200 TO 1900 per
cent
A MAD SCRAMBLE.
The penny hoax is spreading throughout
the South. News came here to-day that
three men collected every 1902 copper to be
found in the banks OF Charlotte. n. c.. and
sent agents out OF town to get more. On
March pennies In Charlotte were freely
purchased for cents each: on March 5 they
had advanced to cents. and on the next
day Edward b. Gresham. of the firm OF
Gresham & Co.. sold to Baggage Agent