The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1917-01-17

HI tErs5 8
,"HoweveE' says the jeEeler, 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 twenty
dollar gold coins. They began missing
the ten dollar ones too, but the dis
appearance of the former was by lar
the more rapid. The officials did not
think that the people OF the country
were boarding the gold, because most
Of the smaller coins remained In cir
culation So quiet investigation was
begun, and it was not long before it
was discovered that the makers OF
gold jewelry were melting them up
for trade purposes.
Having found the cause it was not
difficult for officials to effect q cure.
They did it by 'peppering' the twenty
dollar coins with iridium, which is
not altogether unlike black emery in
the crude state, requiring heat OF
3,542 degrees f. to melt it. Gold, on
the other hand, can be melted at 1918
degrees F. From this it is easy to sec
that the unsuspecting manufacturer,
melting up gold pieces at the temper
ature required, got nuwber Of un-
melted specks of iridium in his metal
when he let it cool. This made trouble
when the metal was worked up.
"At the time this was being done,
there was great vogue for fine Etrus-
| can work in solid gold, which required
perfectly smooth surface in order to
be produced properly. Imagine the dis
may of the jewellers, therefore, when
they found the much needed smooth
surface dotted here and theY with lit
tie peppcr-like specks of iridium. To
leave them III meant that the decora-
tive work was not done properly.
And to take them out meant leaving
the piece p0ck.marked with tiny holes.
1t was therefore not long before the
gold pieces, whether they contained
iridium, or not, were eyed with sus-
picion by the manufacturers, who
then secured their metal from other
sources. 49,. s .
Another way in which iridium caus-
ed some trouble for the gold jewelry
trade had it's birth in the assay Office.
While it was not often the case it was
not a rare thing up until about ten
years ago to find sprinkling of iri-
dunn in the fine gold purchased from
the government assayer. While this
might possibly have been avoided by
little more care on the part of the per
sons who had charge of~preparing the
scrap metal for refining it was gener-
tally regarded in the trade as raceiden-
tai. 1t happened because the clips and
filings that were turned in for refining
by, the makers of gold pens contained
tiny bits Of iridium which because of
It's hardness, is used for tipping the
pens. This does not happen any moro.
Twenty dollar gold pieces figured in
another interesting way in the old days
in the jeWelry trade but in a way that
affected the trade much more Indirect
ly than directly. Knowing that a good
price could be had for scrap gold from
the retiners, the gold probably finding
an ultimate purchaser in the iewelry
trade, interruptions persons had sew
eral ways Of obtaining this scrap and
still leave enough of the coins to pass
them on unsuspecting tradesmen and
banks that were not careful enough to
weigh them when they were rendered.
"One way of doing this was to strip
a coin by putting it into an electro
residue of gold on a copper plate which
chemical bath, getting thereby slight
was afterward melted and the metals