Evening star., 1935-03-31

an experts attention. So if you have
a good many old coins on hand the
wisest procedure is to see reliable
jeweler. No doubt he will be glad
to appraise them for you free OF
charge. Generally speaking. the rule
is that if coin is badly worn, SO
that its date and designs are dimly
revealed. it is worth its weight in gold
and no more.
Bear in mind that quite q few
snuff boxes, if over 100 years old, are
highly priced among certain collectors
for their antique value. These trim
ketS, rarely seen today, virtually
passed out of the American picture
when grandad was thriving back in
the early eighties. However, there
used to be as many as three or four
per man in the crinoline days when
the mea-folks sported satin breeches
and laced shirteeS. Such boxes were
made of fairly pure gold and were
beautifully ornamented. Occasionally
today they rate choice prices.
If ever you come across pair OF
gold buckles, used to ornament mems
shoes back in George Washington'S
time, by all means hang on to them
until an expert has appraised them
for you. Their antique value might
well be considerable. AS for ladies
gold buckles, they're out of style now,
but ordinarily they are composed OF
pure gold.
D ARE, too, in America are those
pairs of heavy gold earrings,
pear-shaped usually, that used to be
worn in the Orient by ladies Of the
harem. Occasionally they weighed as
much as half pound apiece! This,
of course, was far too cumbersome to
hang from the unprotected human
ear So that the custom was to
suspend them from especially made
lace caps. Such earrings not only
command a tremendous price because
of their huge gold content, but GER
tain collectors are continually in
search for them. If you have any
on hand, don't dispose of them until
an unbiased appraiser has judged
them for you.
Just what happens to the enormous
amount of scrap gold now being re-
ceived on a tremendous scale by Uncle
Sans official receiving stations? In
the assay Office in New York City the
precious metal is made as quickly as
possible into bricks Z inches long, 312
inches wide and is inches thick.
These gold bricks. known as export
bars, are piled on the narrow edge,
side by side on shelves in vaults on
the upper floors of the new assay
building located at Old Slip and South
street.
This vast treasure is protected from
outside robbery by stout steel doors.
ingeniously devised combination locks
and numerous guards armed with
pistols. tear gas and shotguns. Inside
the assay Office, no one man among
the 118 hand-picked civil service en-
ployes is ever permitted to be alone
with the gold store. The refined
bricks which are made from the in
coming gold are checked in vault
in the presence of the superintendent
of the assay Office and the director of
the mint, and the door is thereupon
sealed by these two executives. When
ever 1t becomes necessary to reopen
the vault and remove the hoard, these
same two officials will have to be pres
ent to check out the bricks in about
the same fashion as they went in.
The combination of the lock which
closes the vault doors is not known to
any one person. It is set by two men
and independently. The first man
sets two numbers and Immediately
steps back The second man then
sets two other numbers. The repre-
sentative of the vault builder locks
the combination setter, and thereafter
the vault door can be opened only by
these two men, each setting his part
of the combination.
To guard against the death of either
vault opener, each secretly writes out
his part Of the combination and seals
it in an envelope, which Is locked in
the safe of the chief clerk II these
envelopes have to be opened, so that
the full four-figure combination ever
becomes known to any one person. 1t
is Immediately descended to another
divided combination setup.
We've all heard of streets paved
with gold. But who ever heard Of
prospecting big city's pavements in
order to search for the precious metal?
The streets and alleys of Denver, Colo,
may be paved with high-grsde gold
ore. 1t was discovered not long ago.
Many Of the streets are paved with
smelter Stag. This Stag was assayed
and revealed values running up to
1000 q ton in gold and silver. City
officials are investigating to determine
whether such assays indicate general
or isolated values. If the former, 1t Is
possible that the next c. w. A. protest
will be the prospecting Of Denver
streets.