The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1912-01-30
THE SACRED BRASS POUND
STANDARD WEIGHT FOR WEIGHING COINS CAREFULLY PRE-.
SERVED IN UNITED STATES MINT AT PHILADELPHIA

AS the assay commission does it's
work now the original brass pound
figures about as much in visible cere-
monies as the Grand Llama of Thibet
used to before the British used their
swords on that coveted oyster.
Ellis Pugh. the adjuster of scales
and weights at the Philadelphia mint.
where the commission meets on the
second Wednesday of February SOL
EMMY adjusts the lnint's great scale.
known as the SaXton balance. while
l.. \. Fischer. of the bureau of stand
ards in the treasury department at
Washington, as solemnly deposits the
sacred old pound against the COM
mon. everyday II which Mr.. Pugh
made years ago. The fast is noted
that they balance and the ordinary
standard pound is good for another
years duty in regulating all the
weights which regulate all the coins
made in all the minis of the United
States.
The assay commission is appointed
by the president himself. for one year
only. The comptroller of currency,
the assaye: Of the New York assay
Office and the judge of the United
States district court at Philadelphia
are always members. and there are
eighteen others of greater or less eX-
pSAS hiioNACuSc, luCluuIHS Il SpTllks
ling of senators and representatives.
They come to the Philadelphia mint
and usually put in two rather stren-
uous days. for the examination Of the
The way the calculations are made
is this: At all the mints now operat-
ing. as we'll as the Philadelphia mint.
whenever the coiner makes q delivery
OF coins to the superintendent, one
gold piece for every 1000. and one
silver piece for every 1000, are taken
at random from the lot. and are
carefully scaled up in envelopes. Civ
ing date of delivery. number and de-
nomination of piece inclosed and
amount of the delivery from which
they are taken. The envelopes are
deposited in a pyX-practically a
the joint care of the sup
erintendent and the assayer neither
OF whom can have ccess to it with
out the other. Every quarter the
contents of the pyx are shipped to
the Philadelphia mint. where, with
the coins taken at random there. they
are sequestered in a similar pyx, and
reports are duly forwarded to the di.
rector OF the mint at Washington.
In February of every year along
M the assay commission. empow-
cred by law to do practically any
thing it deems needful to determine
whether every solitary one of those
sample coins is up to standards OF
weight and tineness.
Usually the commission divides it.
self Into committees of counting.
weighing and assaying. a practical
expert weigher, like MIR. Fischer, of
the bureau of standards, attending to
the actual tests with the hair balance
scales when it comes to any SEQ gold
piece his fellow members think it
worth while testing. and a man like
George II. Comings, the assayer Of
New York assay Office. overseeing the
acid tests and tineness.
Every single coin. pyxed for every
day or week.. at every mint. is item.
lied in the report. And samples test
ed are reported on. showing deyia-
lions from standard weights, in the
gold coins, as low as one-hundredth
of a grain, and none higher than
Observation-Disclosures. At the
San Francisco and Denver mints re-
peated instances show where the
coins are delivered standard" that
is, SO perfectly true to the weight re-
CURED by law that human skill fails
to find e the fraction of a grain
wrong in them.
And the sacred old pound? Well,
1t goes right along. protected by it's
chamois setting, its chamois hook and