No Pennies fromthe; Royal Mint

Evening Post, Volume CXIV, Issue 157, 31 December 1932, Page 14

No Pennies fromthe; Royal Mint

The present glut of fcronze coin in England, which . has compelled the Royal Mint to suspend ;the minting of pennies, is an instance of those niinor troubles which continuously beset monetary authorities. A similar position arose in 1922. The Mint, in order to meet the increased demand for currency due -to high wartime prices, had issued about 750,000,000 pennies in. eight years. The great postwar slump in prices, however, rendered much of this coin superfluous. Bank's, tramway ■ companies,; gas undertakings, and similar bodies throughout the country had their vaults crammed with unwanted coin. The Mint turned : a deaf ear to the loud.demands that it should buy back its pennies—probably because their intrinsic value was about 2d a dozen, and to. pay for. them at their : face ■ value would have meant, the surrendering of the handsome profits previously, made. However, as. a concession, a few Victorian pennies were withdrawn, but in 1926 a brisk demand sprang from the public and the surplus pennies' were soon, absorbed. The silver coinage, however, is the black sheep of the monetary family. It is always causing trouble. In 1920, in the interests of economy, the Government decided to withdraw the whole'of the silver coinage^ which contained 92i per cent, fine silver, and to replace it, with .one struck from an. inferior alloy in which the proportion was only. 50 per. cent. The resultant coins .'were bad. They discoloured even before they were put into circulation. Some turned yellow, and others red, green, or brown. In 1927 a new improved alloy con-

taining silver, copper,-nickel, and zinc was introduced, and. this has. proved more satisfactory. .The coins, however, still discolour; and their .darkish oxidised appearance, although not altogether displeasing, is vastly inferior to that of the good, old pre-1920 coin. . The authorities have now withdrawn the bulk of the "920" silver and, regretting their earlier efforts, have started on the new task of withdrawing the discoloured coin' issued between 1920 and 1927. , This will take some years, andwhen completed the Mint will have withdrawn since the war- something like 1,200,000,000 pieces of silver. • The designs: of tho.silver coins have also given much dissatisfaction... New patterns were-introduced in 1927. These; again, are the subject of much adverse .criticism,, chiefly, however, from the unknowing, for the new designs : are ;of high artistic merit; Indeed,: the five shilling piece, reintroduced after an. interval of 25 years, is a particularly fine piece, and although the disappearance of the familiar, design of Sti George and the Dragon may be regretted, few can deny that, the new design, .appropriately consisting of a crown, is both, dignified and strong. . Possibly the most grotesque design* that.has,ever disfigured British money was,that of the "head" of Queen Victoria on the 1887 issue. The Jubilee coinage, indeed, was particularly troublesome.- The "Jubilee sixpence" was so much like.a half-sovereign that criminals immediately began to gild them in large numbers. ■ The issue was withdrawn very quickly. The fourshilling' piece was .another, 1887 experiment. This proved unpopular, and was soon discontinued.