Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1916-11-03
JEWELLERS USED GOLD COINS
How Government Stopped Practice Of
Converting Money Into Articles
of Adornment.

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 maDH-
featuring or Mholesaling trades when
found in a reminiscent mood. 1t was
in such mood that reporter found
julius Wodiska the other afternoon.
Mr.. Wodiska, who is a manufactures
of jewelry, is widely known in the
trade.
It may have been the recent rise in
iridium or it may have been the re
cent heavy shipment of gold to this
country, or both, that caused Mr.. Wod-
iska to tell how the United States
government stopped some fOrty-odd
years ago the melting up of $40 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
matter of convenience. So they went
to bank and got $40 gold pieces
enough, or $40 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 the jewelers. to melt them up and
add the necessary alloys to produce
the degree of fineness desired for the
jewelry they were going to make.
s.HoWever," related Mr.. Wodiska, sit
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 $2U
gold coins. They began missing the
$40 ones, too, but the disappearance
of the former was by far the more
rapid. The officials did not think that
the people of the country were hoard
ing the gold, because most of the small
Ter coins remained in circulation. Sc
quiet investigation was begun, ana
it was not long before it was discOV-
cred that the makers of gold jewelry
were melting therl 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
$50 coins with iridium. Now iridium,
which is not altogether unlike back
emery in 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
rhOdiunn, which needs a temperature
of 1862 degrees Fahrenheit to reduce
it to a liquid state. Gold, on the
other hand, can be melted at 1913 de-
grees Fahrenheit. From tits it is easy
to see that the unsuspecting manufae-
turer, melting up gold pieces at the
temperature required, got number
of unr1elted speckS of iridium in his
metal when he let it cool. This made
trouble when the metal was worked
up.
cat the tir1e this was being dona
there was a great vogue of fine Etrus-
can work in solid gold, which required
a perfectly smooth surface in order
to be produced properly. Imagine the
dismay of the jewelers., therefore,
when they found the much-needed
smooth surface dotted here and there
with little pepperlike specks of iridi-
Urn. To leave them il meant that the
decorative work could not be done
properly, ard to take them out meant
leaving the piece pockmarked with
tiny holes. 1t was not long before
the gold pieces, whether they con-
taiEed iridium or lot, were eyed with
suspicion by the manufacturers, whe
then secured their metal from other
sources"