Evening star., 1935-07-30
ROOSEVELT DRAWS.
NEW COIN DESIGNS
Half Cent May Have Hole
in Center, With Mill
Piece Square.
by JOHN L. HACKNEY.


signs of the proposed new mill and
half-cent coins, President Roosevelt
Is following a precedent set by many
other Presidents.
Much like the kings of old. he has
demonstrated q particular interest in
the coin of the realm" But the
President turned to the familiar
doughnut, or maybe it was a washer,
to suggest to Secretary Morgenthau
that the new half-cent piece be a
round coin with hole In the center.
Many other countries now have
such coins In circulation, perhaps the
most familiar being the Chinese and
French coins, the latter introduced
widely in the United States as SOU
venirs of the war by the returning
American soldiers in 1919.
The president also has made a
sketch, the Secretary of the Treasury
revealed yesterday. for the proposed
mill piece It will have the unique
feature of being square. if his sug-
gestion is accepted by the director of
the mint and the Secretary Of the
Treasury, for under present statutes,
those two officials have the final word
on all coin designs.
"T. R." Watched Coins, Too.
Perhaps none of the Presidents
showed a greater interest in coin de-
signs than did the Chief Executives
namesake and distant cousin, Theo-
dore Roosevelt.
r.
miniStration, it was found that the
gold coins then in circulation had
lived the minimum life required by
laws years. r. r. Immediately set
upon the idea of improving the $3.50,
SIS, $40 and $40 pieces and called
on two of Americas best sculptors
to apply their talents along that
line.
Consequently, Augustus Saint-Gau-
dens was prevailed on to make the
$40 and $40 coins, and Bella Pratt
Of Boston the $5 and $2.50 pieces.
All the designs won instant approval.
They were in reality works of art,
but Saint -Gaudens insisted too strong
" in setting out his designs In deep
relief.
A good coin, Treasury experts de-
clare, must stack; that is, the rim
must be the highest point of the
coin so stacks of them may be made.
Relief Had to Be Lowered.
Saint Gaudens' designs, enthusiast
ically approved by President Theodore
Roosevelt and his Treasury officials.
however, was in reality too artistic"
The relief was so high the coins
would not stack. The general design
was not changed, but new dies were
made and the relief was lowered.
Pratt, on the other hand, designed
new type of coin In that the figures
were incised in the metal. OF course,
there was no problem of making them
stand in tall pillars.
The Saint -Gaudens and Pratt coins
were still in use when President
Franklin Roosevelt calle dali gold coins
out Of circulation.
What pity" one Treasury coin
expert said today, Ito destroy sach
beautiful money. All those truly
great works of art have been made
into gold bars and new designs will
have to be made when and if gold
coins are ever returned to circulation"
Saint -Gaudens' designs were made
In the year he died, 1907. Pratts
were approved the following year.
Sinnock Is Engraver.
When and if they are made again,
If the time should come soon, it is
probable that John r. Sinnock may
have hand in making the new de-
signs. Sinnock is the engraver of the
United States Mint and, although he
has that title, he is in reality sculp-
tor and has done many excellent
medal designs. But the Mint Is not
limited in calling in other artists,
and outstanding sculptors may be
called upon to complete the rough
outlines submitted for the midget
pieces now being considered.
The mill will be strictly new piece
of American money, but the half
cent has q precedent. In the orig
inal mint act of Congress, approved
April 2, 1892, half-cent coins were
authorized. The first such coins were
made Of copper and weighed 1872
grains. The next year the weight
was reduced to 1o2 grains, and in
January, 1896, the weight was again
cut down, this time to 81 grains. They
continued in circulation until Feb
ruary 81, 1857, when the half-cent
piece was discontinued.
To give better idea of the weight
Of the original coin, the present
1-cent piece weighs only 48 grains,
just little more than half of the
lighteSt weight of the half-cent piece.
A dime-made of silver, of course
weighs only 1883 grains.
Metal Is Undecided.
Just what metal will be used In
the new coins has not been decided,
Zinc. brass and various alloys are
under consideration, but aluminium
has virtually been discarded before be-
Ing considered. The source of virgin
aluminium is controlled by the ALUMNI
mum Co. of America, Mellon in
terest," and relations between this ad-
ninistration and Andrew w. Mellon
are not so good.
II can't imagine this administration
manufacturing its currency out of
aluminium" Secretary Morgenthau
commented.