The Washington herald., 1907-11-01
CURIOSITIES OF COINAGE
BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN.

It is probable that the 2-cent piece viii
come back into circulation. To many it
viii be new coin, for although there are
some S0.006,000 2-cent pieces scattered
around over the United States. it is sell
dom that one is seen. and there are thou
sands of, children under the age of ten
who have never had one in their hands.
But the plan of the Postmaster General
TO establish vending machines-for the sale
of postage stamps may result in their
coinage being authorized again There
are slot machines which are operated 10y
dropping in two coins but il is said that
the mechanism of these is so delicate
that they are likely to get out of adjust
ment. The surest way Is TO have ma
chimes that are operated by only one
coin Manufacturers have asked the
Treasury authorities TO issue 2-Cent pieces
again. so that they can adapt their one
coin machines 20 the sale OF stamps.
They point out to the department that II
they can sell chewing gum and similar
commodities in 3-cent instead of l-cent
packages, they can put three times as
much in the packages as they are abie
10 put up for I cent, and that the patrons
hHAEu ne lllt EdliillH ivy Allf FL''At't'".-.-
The Treasury officials have replied that
they see no more objection 70 the coinage
of tyvo-cent piece than TO the making of
two-dollar bill, and that so far as they
are concerned they have no objection to
the authorization OF such coinage. II
the Postmaster General VIII recommend
it-and il is thought likely that he will
J.
pieces being made again. There are now
Si6m.O00 in dimes and smaller denomina-
lions circulating in the United States.
Every one knows how scarce are the
little hdlf-Cent pieces. and yet there are
nearly eight million of them scattered
around the country. Where they are no
one knows Some of them. Of course.
are in the hands of collectors. and some
are lost. but as there are only about two
million accounted for In this way, specu-
lation is rife as to the whereabouts of
the other six million
The big. oid-Sashiuned copper cents are
seldom seen to-day and, because Of this,
one would think them rare coins, Yet
there are hundred and twenty million
of them that have never come back 20
the Treasury. The fact is that most OF
llllll fli liNh tiH A.th l.'tsf '.''tN.tt va h''.
little children Of the United States. The
time-houored custom of giving the little
folks ule big copper coins still prevails,
and whenever one Is started into cir
,uIation again Boy some child who pre-
[ers "a big stick of candy 10 his big cop
per peauy 1t is soon taken out again by
the father or mother of some other child.
So only a few of them ever find their
way back 90 The Treasury. 1Een there
are The thTee-ccut pieces and the OLD
fashioned nve-cent pieces the halt-dimes,
and the tWeuty-ceut pieces The average
man does not see one Of these IN "a year,
Yet there are several millions of dollars
worth of these coins outstanding to-day.
They have no intrinsic value above their
weight i'm the metal that Comp0ses them,
Vet Uncle Sam stands ready 20 give
brand new coin of the realm for them
ut any time But the people who hold
them believe that they are worth more
than even their equivalent in new coin,
SO that there are only a few thousand OF
them which find their way back 90 the
Treasury in a year
When a man concludes that be has
need I'm his business for a big pile of pen
uies. all he has Co do is 10 send 10 the
Philadelphia mint money order or some
greenbacks TO cover the number Of pen
nies desired. and forthwith he Will get
them delivered at his door without eN-
pensp. II Uncle sam hasn't enough on
hand To meet the requisitioH, it does not
take him long To make them. and they
SHOW up in due time. The same Is true
about silver II a man wants silver
dollars for his greenbacks. all he has %
do is To send them to Uncle sam. and he
will get. express prepaid, silver dollars in
exchange for them 4 Treasury official
makes the statement that If Uncle Sam
were just as good % his paper money as
he is 10 his hard money. the old 'haysecd'
greenbacks. with their germs would dis
appear from circulation. Il costs less 20
redeem paper mUney than hard money.
but Unucle Sam Will not bear the ship
ping expense of redeeming currency as he
does i'm the case of gold. silver, and
copper.
There are now "A billion and half of
pennies in circulation. Treasury officials
who like TO make guesses Agure that
one-third of these are held by children
in their little banks The supply is not
more than equal % the demand, There
were 100000 of them coined in 1906
Their cost was less than $4,000. and their
time all minor coins have been made at
the Philadelphia mint. but Congress has
recently authorized their making az the
other mints as well They yield Uncle
sam a good profit better than any other
class. except paper money. Last year
the government profited not far from
S3G00,0GJO In turning out nickels and j.
cent pieces. p6cketing the differences be
tween the actual cost and the face value.
OF course. it is ready at any moment
10 redeem them at face value
The street car people and the coin-in-
the-slot machine operators are the prime
ipaI patrons Of the redemption division
of the Treasury in the matter of minor
coins The banks as a rule, beg 10 be
excused from handling them. and so
these people have TO carry or send them
10 the Treasury or 10 one Of the sub
treasures for redemption They get
other money and deposit it in the banks.
The dislike Of the banks for minor coins
is shown, by the fact that Of the $l6-
oJ0.0D0 in minor coins in circulation. the
banks have only about 100000. OF just
about enough for their everyday busi-
ness needs.
The government lcoins money not
ONLY for its own use. but for other COuu-
tries as we'll Last year il coined 1.000.-
GOO 1O-peso and 3,000.o00 5-peso pieces.
gold. for Mexico; 100000 silver 1O-cent-
lmo pieces. and 4G0 600 silver 5-centimO
pieces for Costa Rica besides millions
- pieces for the Philippines. The out
side governments have to bear all the
expenses of coming their money Last
year they paid Uncle Sam $4,000 for
rIfe work Ftg