Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1906-03-08
;lHE C0RNERINC OF
THE COIN. MARKET
~ Some Instances. This. Has,
Been Done With Much
Profit.
OF
One Individual Has a Mania for Coll.
Letting Nothing but Specimens Of
Counterfeit Coins and
WORTHLESS Notes.
From It'd Bits.

From It'd Bits.
Nearly every one has como across
individuals who are Under the delusion
that English 1861 pennies contain =
large percentage Of gold. The gold. Of
course. Is ~non-existent. But that fact
has not prevented many estimable in
dividuals collecting all the 1851 pennies
tney could lay their hands upon with q
view TO melting them down. A Brad
1oru man named Meyes, who died last
year. used to boast that he possessed
1000. He estimated their value at
E135.
In small towns 1t Is quite possible to
corner. for a limited period. coins of
any n denomination. At a Welsh
holiday resort the local band was DO
Indignant at h large proportion OF
h~alfpenntes in its silver collections
That 1t locked up every ha%lfpenny re-
ceived. In a few weeks there was hard
ly q halfpenny In the town, and tho
band henceforth reaped q harvest OF
pennies. A, Manchester man was 80
struck by the inconvenience which re-
suited that, Oh returning. home, he
opened a copper change" where. for
q small commission. he received pack
ages of pence from those whose bust
ness brought them in too many. giving
them silver in exchange.
In 1893 an Irtshman OF Cashel made OIL
bet that thirty single shillings could
not be got In all the shops on a certain ,
day For days In advance he changed
Innumerabls sovereigns and bank notes.
thus cornering practically. all tho sill
YER. He won the bot, his opponent.
who was, OF course. in Ignorance OF the
trick. being able to scrape together
only eleven shillings. .
srhA n-~, 800 A. -
pence. though worth nothing more than
ITS nominal value, has been almost COM
pl'tely cornered by a number of indl-
Nlduals who believe that it will rise in
price as a memento of Queen VictOria's !
jubilee. OF the tens of thousands is
sued from the mint few speciments are
now in circulation. y
concerning gold coins demands a cap
ltal which few men possess. AT Dieppe.
however, some years ago, there was q
sudden scarcity OF ten franc and twen-
~ franc pieces. which was traced to an
american visitor named Bragg. who.
Tor some cryptic reason. had the day
before changed several hundred bank ,
notes of high value into gold. Laden
with the coins he left for Paris, and it
was not for a week that the normal
amount OF gold returned to the town.
superstition has led many ignorant
individuals to collect large numbers OF
COINS OF a particular denomination. A,
remarkable case occurred In South
Russia two years ago A prophet" ap-
psared at Berdiansk. OH the Sea Of,
AZov. and proclaimed that he had come,
TO save the world. Meeting with a bad,
reception from he townspeople, he
tramped inland and gained many peas
ant adherents. Among other queer doc
trines. he preached that all five copeck'
pieces issued In 1881. the year OF the
emancipation of the serfs, were holy"
They We're to be brought to him for
preservation In an oaken chest. When
Russia got into difficulty all these coinsl
would turn to gold and save the en-
0ire. =
Over an area of 300 square miles tho.
peasants feverishly set about Collect
Ing the holy money. When the prophet,
had collected about GN worth he de-
camped. after changing them at q local
bank for gold.
An attempt to corner the Maria The
resa dollars which are used as cur
rency IN many parts of northern At,
rica. collapsed owing to a queer cause.
An Abyssinian. Ras Makoppo. con-,
ceived the ingenious idea Of collecting!
all specimens of these coins extant In,
his district: As they were old coins,
ne reasoned they would rise In value.
After he had possessed himself Of about,
5000 he found that the ountr was 90,
well supplied with them as ever. While.
he had been busy collecting them MOD,
ern Maria Theresa dollars made in
Germany were being imported by tho,
thousand. The result was that the ootn,
fell in value. n the too astute chief,
lost half his wealth.
The Russian government corners. its.
own coins. Every year 1t mints a linn
Tied number of bronze coins of the.
nominal value OF one-quarter copeck.
In English value one-sixteenth OF 4
penny. As these coins are practicable
not In circulation only a few are Ia
sued. The remainder are sold by the
mint authorities at about double their
value for use a card counters.
Birmingham boasts the only man
who bad coins. This Eentle-
ma has a unique collection Of false
money. Some years ago he issued q:
notice to various trades people that he
would give one-quarter Of the nominal,
value for certain specimens Of counter.
felt coins which might have BEEN,
passed p them. He now possessaa,
several thousand. some so IKE rood
money that fraud is not perceptibis.
some 40 clumsfly made that It fs hard
TO understand how any tradesman
could have been taken In.