The Eureka sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1902-current, 1920-08-21
MINIS PAYING GOLD
FOR SILVER PURCHASED

MOTE ~COnCcFuluB u mctnOu VI uAdh
keting silver so that the best price
may be obtained by the miner has
been written by Charles Buffers, not
ed mining operator, to the Mining
and Scientific Press. Mr.. Buffers
communication is as follows:
THE silver miner Is concerned in
the primary marketing of his silver.
IL the silver is marketed in bars, 1t
can be sold and resold, and is a con-
slant menace to the market until 1t
reaches some final manufactured
form-the more expensive the form
of manufacture the better. Once
manufactured into silver salts. jewel
ry, or plate, 1t is well of the market,
at least for a time. In bangles or
anklets on an East Indian woman,
where a lot of 1t goes, 1t is fairly sure
that, for the present at least, 1t won't
bother.
with these markets supplied. If
the miner goes to the mint and sells
there for the market price, and re-
ceives silver coin In payment, he has
put his product into a manufactured
form and it takes a price of s1.29 per
ounce for dollars and s1.3S for sub
sidiary coin before that silver can
come back on his market for resale.
In thai way the miner has accom-
plished his object of charging his
market when the price is down, and
has reduced the supply to other US
ers.
What brings down the price is
trying to sell where there is no de-
mand. When the silver miner sees
a falling demand, he should immedi-
ately sell his product to the mint at
any market price and get his output
put into coin. When there, 1t Is safe
ly locked up to at least coinage value.
When he pays this out and 1t goes
into circulation the miner has &C
complished his object. What is done
with 1t afterwards does not interest
him so much. II 1t is carried around
and used and gradually wasted by at
trittion, so much less silver.
''If 1t is put in a bank and the bank
er issues a paper note against 1t, still
the silver producer is satisfied. II
the banker can issue two or more
notes against 1t, the banker Is salts
fed and the miner did him a kindly
turn ny 6tNlu6 AAAu q OaoAo AL thO
multiplication of credit, and for the
man who wants to borrow there Is
money and credit where 1t did not ex-
list before. So 1t seems to me that
the miner, when he coins his silver
for his w protection, Is in the po-
sition of the man who made two
blades grow where only n grew be-
fore, and l believe such a man is
highly respected and looked up to as
a public benefactor.
+. 'Tf our paternal and n%onprofit-
making mint buys the silver for, say,
90 cents per inc and coins 1t into
silver at anywhere between $1.29 and
$1.3S, the silver miner, In addition to
all the other benefits he has bestowed,
has incidentally given the public
his output. which is at least twice as
much profit as he himself has re-
ceived. The public gets this because
the Government has a monopoly on
coinage; which all goes to show what
happens when the silver miner goes
to the mint with his silver, or what
ought to happen.
Now, / will tell you just what
happens right now, because 1t hap
pened to me. You go to the mint
with your fine bars and you ask them
to coin them at the market price. The
reply is, Yes, but we pay you in gold.
We are not letting any silver out at
present. We want the silver to get
back to u reserve 1t is a curious
attitude. In other words, our policy
at the present price is to give gold
for silver. The reason may interest
the silver miner. The treasury may
think that silver is cheaper now than
it will be in the future, otherwise,
they ought to be willing to pay out
silver.
1T is to the interest of the silver
miner that every means should be
taken to lengthen the time of filling
the Government reserve, and that can
only be done by reducing the amount
of silver going into the eserv and
increasing the amount going into cir
cu~lation."