The Washington herald., 1911-03-12
NEWS AND GOSSIP
OF OTHER LANDS

| in the House of Lords, but Charles II
made no bones about it. The lords, how
ever, were not we'll pleased when he ap-
! peared during the debates on the bill OF
exclusion, which was passed by the Com
| mons but rejected by the upper house
Charles unconcernedly attended and both
dined and supped in the house and de-
clared that lit was better than going to
play" With all his faults, King
| Charles had an irresistible way.
| IL is unusual for a sovereign to inter
| polate words OF his own into his speech
| to the houses of Parliament George III,
| however. on opening his first Parliament
| in 1850, added the following sentence TO
| the speech from the throne: Born and
| educated in this country, l glory in the
| name of Briton and the peculiar happi-
ness of my life ever will consist in pro-
noting the welfare of people. whose
| loyalty and wurm affection to me l con
| slider the greatest and most permanent
! security OF my throne"
There was a word in this sentence
which gave e1snse. 1t was understood
in the name of "Briton," and the anti
Scottish faction was furious. Horace
WalpoIe has preserved the bon mot of a
| lady who remarked that the great qu"S-
! tiOn was whether the King would burn
! Scotch coal. Newcastle coal. or Pitt coal.
! When hygone speakers audihIy cX
pressed their boredom during debates.
aggrieved members might hav" rctCrt"d
| that. at least. they were paid for it, On
| the other hand there is Sir MountStuart
! Grant Duff : anHCdote of the famous
struggle against the coercion bill. which
lasted from the afternoon of January q
to the morning Of February -. 1851. When
! things were at their dullest and dcadli"St,
a member. rolling off his seat in the
! extremity Of weaTinesS. was heard to
moan. And to think that | should hav"
paid 1900 for this
The popular idea that the British mint
at present is manufacturing millions Of
new coins bearing the effgy Of King
! George. with which it will soon flood
the country. is quite erroneous. As
matter of tact. it will he some time be-
| fore the now coinage gets into general
| circulation. for the reason that the mint
will only supply now coins as the de
! mand for them LriscS through the grad
UalIy diminishing stock Of Edwardian
| currency. For instance. there are at pres
! ent about ten tons 90 pennies NJ the Brit
ish mint which must he absorbed before
new coins are issued. The mint stock Of
| haIfpennies. however. has been depleted,
| first coin Of the new issue which the
man in the street will see will be the
| new halfpenny.
Doubtless many readers who have
| learned that the intrinsic value OF SOver-
! egns and half SoycreigUS in ~ ShillingS
and 10 ShillinES. respectively. have won
dered how the mint can manufacture. aS
! il did last year. !J2.>0l .Sil coins. over 90
! CO0.ONO of which were for the colonies;
| bear the loss on gold and silver coins
withdrawn from circulation on account OF
| loss in weight, and yet reap a profit OF
| something like $4,000 a year for making
money for the British nation.
As a matter OF fact. it is the smaller
coins of the realm which bear the cost
of the whole currency. The metal value
! OF a shilling is only fOurDencc. while
the bronze Of which a penny is made IS
| worth about one faTthing. That is how
! the mint was able. il did in l%l-, TO
! make clear profit Of no less than
G4H.o0O on silver coinage alone. In that
! year 2Il6,>So ounces of silver We're pur-
| chased at cost Of c-1t&I1 and trans
! formed into coins of the realm worth
! G5S1. .976.
Last year sovereigns and half sover-
! elgns to the value OF c2I,Sp".DOI were
| issued. and gold TO the value of Goo 600
| was withdrawn from circulation. Every
! gold coin that goes into tho Bank of
! England is weighed, and if it has lost
a certain amount Of weight il is sent
| back to the mint to he melted down and
| replaced BY new fuIl-weiCht coin. 1t
is thus that light coin finds its way back
! to the mint and new coin i put into
| circulation in exchange.
| Talking Of light coins. it might be
mentioned that among the most wonder
- L-TNf itch
! mint are the weighing machines. 50 del
| icately adjusted that if a coin is only
one 1l0Oth part OF grain above or
| below the standard they automatically
reject it. Each machine is inclused in
| a glass case. so that it shall not be dis
! tUrbed by dust Or atmospheric influences.
! From a feeder the coin passes onto the
scale If it should be light it is thrown
! into one receptacle. if heavy into an
| other and if just right it goes into III"
! central chamber. and ultimately finds its
way into circulation.
| Unless tampercd with. it is estimated
| that the life of a sovereign or half SOW
! ereign on an everage is twenty
! six years. but the silver coins last very
| much longer. An examination two years
ago showed the averages ages Of the
! coins to be as follows: Half crowns.
| siXty-five years; forms. forty-tive years;
! shillings. forty-two years: siXpenCcS.
! twenty-eiEht years. and three penny
| pieces. thirty-three years. II will thus
| be noticed that the sixpencc has the
| shortest life. and is sdJ to return 20
! the mint in the worst COnutiOn.
! BY the way. a fallacy exis,s with re-
! gard 20 the rarencSs of pennies Of the
year 1854. it still being believed by som"
! that these pennies contain certain
amount of gold. which. it was reported.
! had been mixed by mistake with the
iCoppCr in that year. From time to tim"
| people have been at the mint with boards
Of these pennies, expecting to receive a
substantial sum for them The fact is,
however. that such a mistake never Oc-
| Cured. In 1861 the Mint had such a
large stock Of pennies on hand that it
was only necessary to issue a compare
! lively small number. he'ConsequenCc be-
| ing that pennies of that year became
rather scarce.
II also is commonly supposed that the
| process of coming is carried out in the
! striCtest privacy. AS a matter of fact,
permission to visit the building is grant
! ed al certain hours of the day by the
| deputy master, on written application.
On an average about 10000 persons avail
| themselves of this privilege every year
The comforting by King George of Eng
| land of the Grand Cross Of the Victorian
| Order on DR.. Alexander. retired arch
| bishop of Armagh, recalls the fact that
| several clergymen, principally prclates
have been admitted to several orders OF
/ ~.