Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1908-01-01
THE ROOSEVELT COINS.
Couldn't BE Struck at Mints Without
Altering Presses. !.
Cor. New YORK 8

SStsSSl lescnNA'ssoteS eSOE. lNtWt IOrA SUM-
irreverent expressions which
fesident declares are caused by
tins motto, "In God We Trust" are as
which was provoked in the PhiIadei-
phta mint when the first attempt was
made to strike the now gold coins
from the Roosevelt-St. Baudens de-
sign. The presses in the big money
making establishment would not
work at all when run at the ordinary
rate OF speed, and even now, after
the introduction of special devices to
. overcome the dificulty, the condi-
tions are far from satisfactory. Even
at the Philadelphia mint, where the
machines used In making gold eagles
handle the new high-relief dies, the
and expensive, while at the New Or
leans. Denver and San Franciscjo!
mints 1t Is impossible to make the
new coins at all.
The principal difficulty from me-
chanical standpoint is that the de-
sign for the new coin provides for an
extremely high relief on both sides of
the Piece, and the ordinary coin press
used In the mints Is incapable OF turn
Ing out the coins in perfect condi-
tion. It was found Immediately that
nothing but medal press could be
used successfully without altering
the machinery, and medal presses are
run so slowly as to prohibit their use
for ordinary coinage. To turn out
$40 gold pieces at the slow rate OF
speed accomplished by a medal press
would make the coins so expensive
that they could not be produced for
general circulation.
The problem has been studied for
several weeks by the mint officers
and employees, with the result that
the machines used on this particular
coin have been provided with me-
chanical attachment which permits
the. presses ITO be run at some&h here
near .the usual rate of speed. The
same device will have to be installed
in the other m.nts in the country,
The ordinary gold coinage press
turns out coins at the rate Of nearly
60&a minute; that Is, the press
stamps coins in perfect condition al
most as rapidly as a watch ticks.
The difficulty will be multiplied by
three when the mint undertakes to
execute the old coins Of the double
eagle and five-dollar denominations
after tho new designs. 1t is possible
also that two-dollar-and-a-half gold
pieces will he executed after the new
design, but 1t Is not certain that, the
coinage Of this denomination will be
cCntsnued, as there is little call for
these pieces
1t is an open secret now that the
new coin designs are not distinctly
the work Of Augustus St. Gaudens,
the noted sculptor, at all. The fact
is that the coin has been changed in
two or three respects from the de-
sign approved by the late sculptor,
and that while the design was in pre-
paration ST.. Gaudens was constantly
embarrassed and restricted by sug-
gestions and commands from the
President But even after the sculp-
I tor had finished his work and the de-
sign was approved by the higher ex-
ecutive, If not artistic, authority.
notifications were made which
changed utterly the appearance of
the finished coins. These changes
were dictated BY practical considera-
tions, but taken all in all the new
coins ere badly botched, and so ad-
mitted to be by persons who have
had experience in the coinage branch
Of the government.
Preparations are now being made
to produce the double-eagle, or $40
gold piece, after the new design, but
the design will have to be changed,
or at least an entirely new effect will
be impaired to 1t, to make the coin
acceptable in business and in order
that 1t may be produced economically
by the mint. A few pieces from the
double-eagle design have already
been struck and they present much
worse appearance than the eagle
piece to which SO mr"h objection has
already been made. Instead of the
Mary Cunningham head, one side Of