The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1913-05-20
DOUBTFUL MONEY.
Italy Teens with Worthless and
Counterfeit Currency.


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ksrsa, W,ssrs ths Descending oesis
10 ossd, HAN ossd. Dad end csso.
tssssits Coed Only Astsr Dark.
OF all the 30 called great powers"
italy has the most unstable and most
unsatisfactory currency. Not alone Ii
the exchange subject TO Quotation
(that b true In greater q less degree
Of the currency Of every country. but
there u 4 great mass Of counterfeit
and worthless money 6oatns about
the country for the undoing Of the un-
wary. ln the 6rst place. the engrav.
ing on the paper money 10 Of inferior
quality. and hence It . quite easy Of
imitation; secondly. there are % many
worthless or doubtful coins In circula.
tion that the temptation to add to
their number 10 not easily reelsttd
Lake some Of tho paper money that
not 70 long ago used to be quite com.
mon In our own country. the ItailA1 %
allowed to remain In circulation nntii
dlsracefully dirty and nearly oblitStat-
Cd and therefore di6lcult Of reco14l.
ton - counterfeit or genuine TO 81
to TIE confusion, French silver u gea-
orally accepted. while the coins Of
switseriand. Belgium and Greece. al.
though ofncialiy recognized, are. - q
rule, refused In commerce. Numerous
papal and Roumanian coins are still In
circulation. although they arc value
less and accepted only BY unwary for.
eigners. whom the Italians regard as
fair prey.
In addition. none Of the large mum.
ber Of one Ira pieces coined before
1853 can be passed. although intrinsl.
calIy Of equal value with those Of later
date, since the period arbitrarily fixed
for their redemption has passed and
the government refuses to accept them
further. Under this caption fall all
coins bearing the head Of Victor EN-
manuel and the word 'eletto" (elected)
on the face.
The Italians possess mania for mu-
tilating and perforatng the 6ve and
ten centesimo copper coins, but owing
to their small denomination this usual.
~ acts % NO bar to their acceptance
"Oh. It's half goodi'' ID often heard
from some philosophical storskespsr -
b. tpssss Q desbtfui coin into the till.
Indeed, the traveller 10 constantly r.
minded Of Korea, the classical country
of ceuntsrfeits. with its complicated
scale Of descending money values.
which ere. good. half good, bad. and
countsrfeiz that are eocd only altar
dark. t&b ',i.,i ,s,stiy tt
But let the .forsign visitor who has
served ~ Z clearing house tor worth.
less money beware Of entertaining the
faliaey tnGt the rule u capable Of In.
verse application Like the legendary
memory Of elephants D that Of the
italian cabby or retail merchant. lead
ing him to pursue through storm and
darkness the man or woman who has
passed worthless coin into his keep.
ing. On one occasion was tracked
even to the dinner table Of friends aud
forced to redeem doubtful ten cen
tesimo piece t2 centsl which ] had In
advertently offered as a tip.
Instead OF seeking to strengthen the
basis Of the country's paper aud silver
money. the government adopted the
very measure calculated still further to
debase the currency In the public mind
According to the ruling Of the postOf-
fee authorities, all money orders must
be purchased with gold, silver and pa
per being refused. Owing. however, to
the premium at which gold Ia held by
the banks. this results In considerable
loss to those sending money In this
manner and often also tn great tncon
vonience after banking hours.
To accentuate the Inconsistency Of
the country's refusal officially to recog
nixe its own currency. II need only be
mentioned that the amount Of italian
gold In existence In negligible guam
tity and that the government ruling re-
suits IN forcing those patronixtng the
postofilce to purchase French gold.
Justly angered by this inconsistency.
on one occasion I relieved my feelings
In the presence OF the OfIicial who had
refused tho offer OF Italian paper mon
~ by sarcastic reference to the non
existence Of native gold coinage. The
resultant Indignant search through bin
money drawer failed TO reveal q single
Italian gold piece. although II resulted
nearly In an attack OF apoplexy
brought on by patriotic wrath
The application Of my little article 10
this: Are not these conditions 10 the
home land responsible tor the fre,
quency with which Italians OF low
cInss In A n,arfca ara Nau0ht rnuntar
feltinR our Uncle Sans ailverwaref-
W. W. whitelock in Chicago Record
Herald