New Britain herald., 1928-08-15
PAPER CURRENCY MUST BE AGED
So Public Will Have to Wait to
 See New Bills
Bv GEORGE Fl. MANNING

'
 Washington. D. C., Aug. 15.-fou won't, no matter who you are, get glimpse of your Uncle Sans new miniature greenbacks for about a year. At least you won't until July l, 1929.
 This caution on the part of gov- ernment officials is not due to any selfish desire to keep the cute new bills all to themselves. Nor can 1t, like so many conservative measures. be referred to as the New England or Coolidge variety of thrift. The rather surprising reason IS that greenbacks have this in common with whiskey: Both must be aged before they're at their best.
 Treasury officials declare that the government lost lot of money dur ing the war when paper currency to meet the emergency was turned into circulation too quickly after print ing, with the result that it soon cracked and had to be replaced. Now, however. there is plenty of time and the pint-size certificates will repose in storage until properly aged. Whether this aging takes place in wood is unknown as yet.
 Not only will you not be able to see the new money, but you won't even be able to see picture of it not even the one dollar kind. which is piker among the two. five. ten, 50, 100, 500. 1000, 5000 and 10000 dollar issues. This again IS not from any unreasonable willful- ness on the part of authorities. but because Section 150 of the United States Penal Code specifics that photographing of money or any other federal obligation is forbidden.
 And so you must wait until next July to see the brand-new engrav- ings of George Washington that adorn the lowly dollar denomina- tion which composes 53 per cent of the one billion pieces to be issued. Nor will you see the picture ot Thomas Jefferson and Monticello which ornament the front and back. respectively. of the twos. nor those of Lincoln and the Lincoln Memorial in the same positions on the five dollar bills. Not until next July. Of course, you may not see them then. at least not many of them, if you are the average citizen. Alex ander Hamilton and Andrew Jack son should get fairly large audi cnce for their portraits on the ten and 20 dollar issues. but how many times will you. if you are the aver age citizen. view Grant, Franklin. Mckinley Madison or Chase in their incarnations on the front of the $50, s1no. $500. $1.oo0. 5000 and $1o,- 900 specimens of what are some times lovingly called mazuma? Echo may be quoted as the authority answering. not often.
 It may perhaps be some consola- tion. however, to this average citizen to learn that 1t is as impossible for
 him to see picture of postage
 stamp as it is of the $1o,ooo portrai'
 of MT. Secretary Chase. Each i:
 equally banned by the Penal Code.
 Hollywood itself also furnishes
 the average citizen with consolint
 material. In a recent film manu
 factured in the California cinemati,
 zone. money that was real money in
 advertently got itself screened. Th'
 eagle eye of the censor. government
 al or otherwise, was not blinded b. the dramatic art any more than |
 that Of the average movie fan, ant
 out came that sequence and it va "shot" again with stage money
 Movie money must be as big fax
 as glycerine tears.
 Perhaps even more momentous
 loss than that occasioned by not see ing the pictures of American heroe of the past. is that occasioned by tn delay in seeing for the first time tn
 name Andrew Mellon affixed to tn ] promise of the United States to "pa, , to the bearer" Mir. Mellon's will b the first signature of a secretary o the treasury to appear on American , currency. Hitherto the names of tn
 registrar of the treasury and tn United States have followed the tra . ditional promise. but the depart 7 ment has reached the conclusion tha
 it's head should be formal sponsor o , the obligation.
 , The fact that it will bear MT. Mel Ions signature is not. however, tn reason why the first sheet which ha
 been drawn from the press will b
 framed to hang in his office. : nRi ioll fotn %hof th . reason is that this is the first i'm , portant change in currency desig since 1868.
 l Copyright 1928, General Pres ASsnciatinn