The Yale expositor., 1916-11-02
JEWELLERS USED GOLD COINS
How Government Stopped Practice OF
Converting Money Into Articles
Of Adjournment.

New York.-There are few things
more interesting to the average stu
dent of business matters than the odds
and ends that often crop up IN con-
versation with veterans of the manu-
featuring or wholesali2g trades when
found in q reminiscent mood. 1t was
in such mood that Il reporter found
julius Wodiska the other afternoon.
Mr.. WOdska, who is a manufactures
of jewelry, is widely known In the
trade.
1t nay have been the recent rise In
iridium or it nay have been the re-
cent heavy shipment of gold to TINS
country, or both that caused Mr.. Wod-
iska 10 tell how the Ulited States
government stopped some forty-odd
years ago the melting up CT so gold
pieces in order TO use the metal IN
the manufacture of gold jewelry. In
those days it was the custom OF many
of the jewelry makers to use these
coins Instead of buying fine gold, as
natter of convenience. SO they went
to a bank and got $50 gold pieces
enough, or SO ones, for that matter,
to supply the sufficient metal for the
work IN hand. The gold pieces being
% karats fine, "a karats being abso-
lutely pure gold, it was not difficult
| for TIE jewellers to melt them up anc
add the necessary alloys to produce
! the degree Of fiaeless desired for the
jewelry they were going to make.
However" related Mr.. Wodiska, lit
was not long after this practice be-
came more or less general that the
government authorities began to won
der what was becoming OF the S2O
gold coins. They began missing the
$40 ones, too, hut TIE disappearance
of the former was by far the more
raid. The officials GiG net think that
the people Of the country were hoard
i-g the gold, because lost of the small
Ter coiLs remained il circulation. So
a cuiet investigation was begun, and
it was not long before it was discov-
cred that the makers Of gold jewelry
were melting them up for trade pur-
poses.
Having found the cause, it was not
difficult for the officials to effect a
cure. They did it by peppering' the
500 coins with iridium. Now iridium,
which is not altogether unlike black
emery il the crude state, requires a
heat Of 3,542 degrees Fahrenheit to
melt it. In the degree of heat required
for this purpose it is only second to
rhodium, which needs a temperature
of 1852 degrees Fahrerkeit to reduce
it to q liquid state. Gold, on the
other hand, can be melted at 1913 de-
grees Fahrenheit. From this it is easy
to see that the ursuspecting manufac'
turer, melting up gold pieces at the
; temperature required, got a number
of unEelted specks Of iridium in his
metal when he let 1t cool. This made
|, trouble when TIE metal was worked
UP.
"At the tir1e this was being done
, there was a great vogue of fine Etrus'
, can work In solid geld, which required
a perfectly smooth surface ii order
to be produced properly. Imagine the
dlsmay of the jewellers, therefore
, when they found the much-needed
smooth surface dotted here and there
> with little pepperlike specks of iridi
, um. To leave them IL meant that the
decorative work could not be done
properly, and to take them out meant
. leaving the piece pockmarked with
4 tiny holes. 1t was lot long before
! the gold pieces, whether they con
talaed iridium or rot, were eyed will
: suspicion by the manufacturers, whC
, then secured their metal from othel
[ sources"