Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-08-16
CONDEMN NEW COINS
Telephone People and Owners
of Slot Machines Agree.
BOTH ARE LOSING MONEY
Lincoln. Head Cent Pieces Used in
Lieu Of Nickels.
FOUND IN TELEPHONE BOXES
But They Are Not of Right Dimen-
sions for Chewing Gum
Slots.
BOTH ARE LOSING MONEY
FOUND IN TELEPHONE BOXES

While the telephone people are rest
less over the discovery that the new Lin
coin pennies fit the slots of their public
pay-as-you-see phones. and have been
used in lieu Of nickels by certain persons.
the companies that put on the market
penny-in-the-sol chewing gum, sailed
peanut and whatnot machines are send
ing up a wall because the Lincoln cents
are too big for their slots.
The situation presented is a rather in
teresting one, but as both compliments
desire that the new coins be made smaller,
the government may be induced 20 reduce
their size, it is believed.
The proprietors of the penny-in-the- slot
machines are berating the Lincoln head
penny, and are still appealing to Assist
ant Secretary Norton, acting secretary of
the treasury, for alteration of the coin.
so that it will go into the slots of the
machines without trouble. They have
even asked that the design be changed.
Under the law this cannot be done. as
when design is once adopted for coin
and it's coinage begun there must be no
material change inside of twenty-five
years.
Minus Designers Initials.
The Philadelphia and San Francisco
minis are now turning out the cent minus
the initials of Victor D. Drummer. who de-
signed the coin. The Philadelphia mint
began the production of the altered cents
last Thursday, and the Treasury Depart
ment is in possession of some of the
money The new coins do not fit the pen
ny-in-the-slot machines any better than
the first ones that came out, but Secretary
Norton is willing to do all he can to oblige
the machine owners. He has issued di-
m mint officials tn roll the
coins with care, as it is believed thorough
rolling will bring them to the size neces-
sary to fit slots. AS it is, over half of the
coins out of the mint go through the slots
all right.
The new pennies have a raised edge so
as to protect the face of Lincoln from
wear in the piling of the coins. Lincoln $
face is raised, and but for the raised edge
around the coin the face would wear
quicker than any other portion of the
coin.
Will Be Made to Fit.
1t is believed at the Treasury, where
the demand for the new coins is not large
compared to the first one issued. that the
mint will reduce the edges SO that the
coins will fit the machines.
1t is alleged that certain inscriptions
parties have been using the new coins
in lieu of scent pieces in the nickel
n-the-slot public telephones. While the
new cents do not ring the call bell in the
phones all the time, they do some of the
time. and the collectors for the telephone
company, in making their collections,
have found number of them with the
nickels.
Some of the officials of the company
today denied that the Lincoln pieces can
be used in lieu of nickels, but it Is said
to be a matter Of record that the cents
bearing the face of the martyred Presi-
dent have been used successfully to make
calls over public telephones. The new
cent is somewhat larger than the familiar
1-cent piece bearing an Indian head. Just
what steps the telephone company will
take to remedy the evil has not de-
veloped.