MISUSING COIN.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 157, 5 July 1926, Page 10

MISUSING COIN.

CHINAMAN MAKES HISTORY. HOW CI'RRENCY CS GUARDED. iioxrv v. , . ;, N ,vv ro" p.taofo. • . •; , w .-'■; vi"\v -V,,- - - ::, .»K otT.-iuv. au.l j ; v,- . , . ■• ■ ~ •■ ; ,-\,',T. '.in : il ,l . who. w :.'i"; .... ■■ ~ ■ „.-'. ■■;' ~• :■■ ■ M:r.:*:v-r of Vii.i-v.. ■■■:- J.xA- . '>r.uk-= ■ :;>. or uso-s ~;•-(., wi- ;". ,i" :-.- cu-rouov any gold >T f :; Vl , : ~,.;., „•••■ :i : ~ ;,ir *V.c time being ■T.T.".'t '•' Ni'W /'l'.li.liui." ?>;o'ii ;- -.ho il.iuso !m t'li , Finance Act under uhi ;i n Chinoso named Ah Win? wii- ?!:■■': il on Friday. Ail Wing had be.n vain t-iiiuia'i to p.irad. , his wealth i.v having '.In half-sovereign* made into a* fliain m adorn his Kuropean waist-i-ont. !Io was just about to take wing for a trip to '.'hiiiu ;<> advertise the golden pa-tu:v-= of "(iod's Own" when !!:•■ polve >trippoil him of tno advertisement, whii-li was. pro lempore, eontisoaio'l. It was. perhaps, just us well for All Wing. MMi .ire murdered for loss than ten half-sovereign:' in China, and had he worn :in~ hadse of wealth h<? may not have returned to Now Zealand. And. nnyway. Ah Wing was given a fiver liy tlu- Court, which fined him H. for it ordered tlio return of the chain. One hopes that a necessitous Treasury did nm instruct this generosity with the idea, of fretting another £1 out of him every time lie wears it. Copper, it will be noted, does not come under the Finance Act. Copper is a 'flebased" coinage. This is rather a pity. The other day a man in a. hurry to conne t with his office ran into a street bureau, dialed his number, and attempted to insert the only penny he had. The coin. was too large for the slot. Some joke-genius had placed it on a tram rail, and a passing car liad increased its dimensions. The delay thus caused the would-be telephonist was responsible for a severe loss to him. A "Surprise Packet." The prosecution of Ah Wing was the first of its kind in this part of the "world, according to an Auckland banking authority —at least "within his knowledge. Therefore it came ns a surprise. There are lot 9 of people ■who are liable to the same surprise as descended upon Ah Wine. An English measure, the coin of the Realm Act, imposes severe penalties on persons defacing the currency, and although most people have a vague notion that there is such an Act, and that our coinage must not be unduly trilled with. few knew until this prosecution that they were liable to a fine of £10 under the New Zealand Finance Act for monkeying with metal '"hoot." It is understood to stand in law that however worn a coin, it must be accepted as currency and value given so long as the head of the Sovereign stamped thereon is decipherable. This is mistaken to be the payment of compulsory homage to the King. Contra-wise, it is the popular delusion that you must not deface a coin because you interfare with the features of His Majesty, and are, thereby, guilty of disloyalty and disrespect. But the reasons go farther. When silver soared during war time, both gold and silver coins were worth more as metal than their face value, and the siler mintage was withdra-wn and further alloyed. The melting down of gold and silver was then a highly profitable pursuit—but those caught at"it found it unprofitable to pursue further this source of income. An Inconvenient Restriction. There were many inconveniences caused by this restriction. Jewellers had found that the only gold really satisfactory for gilding was sovereign gold, and dentists had found it to be the best and most malleable for the purpose of filling teeth. The law regarding defacement being applied under the exigencies Oi circumstance, they found themselves in difficulties. Also, gold was withdrawn from circulation, and those who had •hoarded sovereigns could sell them for as much as 2(1/ or 28/ —to be used surreptitiously for the purposes abovementioned and other misdemeanours. As a matter of fact, the law in relation to using coin for other than currency purposes was for long a dead letter. Even jewellers in a large way of business have been in the habit of publicly ignoring it by fashioning chains, bracelets, brooches, pendants, and other such articles from coin. The Wily Indian. Indians are notable mis users of coinage. They are great hoarders of gold, which their women frequently wear about their persons. In some parts of India, and in Fiji (to come nearer home), Indian women may be seen every day wearing anklets and armlets faeiiioned out of gold coin, their worth sometimes running into hundreds of pounds. Indians ara also adepts in manipulating coins for a swindle. They have heen known to bore a hide in the edg- of a coin, and by infinite patience nmveivl in scooping out the gold o: silver, leaving only the shell, which they Jill with lend."carefully covering the mark of the boring. The job tiikcs a long linir, and by <lmn<r honest work till- Indian could earn very much nmrc; hut some of these trick'v gentry would sooner exist on. roguery than become aflluent by honesty. Coins are not only misused by being manufactured into jewellery, however. We will pass over the peculiarities of the people who "sweat" or lilc down gold and silver for tln> gaining o f : , f ;MV grains of metal per coin, and the pitch-and-toss experts who uoe tlu , lilc to make doubleheaded pennies, and pnir.'od to the fact that eminently guilelc-s folk may come within tlu. , mc.-hes nf the law. Ermyntrude's Threepenny Bit. There is Kniiyiitnidc. for instance, parting from Algernon, mid presenting him with the jagged half of a broken threepenny liit: "Tiik:: the Inilf of tliie coin, and when I return have it safe so that it will /it into the half I shall carry nearest to my heart. By that shall I know you have , remained constant. If in Illy absence you receive n messenger with this heart—f mean tliirs half—of mine you will know 1 need you. tint 1 am in danger. Kurewell!" (X.lt. This is stolen from "The Ilrnken Threepence," by Horace Heartbreak.l Hotli Kriiiyntrude ttiul Algernon an , liable to have I heir romance nhu It ere.l by living drugged licfure :i Mwijfif trate and lined v "leaner" for this. There are even worse penalties provided for those who ilofnee coins for ulterior purposes. Kvery person commits a felony who lilei. clips, or otherwise, β-ltern any coin with intent to defraud, and even the coining of good money,

v .'.'•>iit T ho permission of the Crown, is, .'.- should be well known. « very serious ; -.l< iiu-aiiiMir —so much so that only :i iM-iip.uatively recent yeare lias it . .•;!■;.•" to be punished by death. And i fining may well be regarded as a grave ■ tlViuv. t'.ir we :ire told on the best of .lUihtirity that "not only is it ai> in:ri:".ffP!'KMif of the rights of government .vii! injurious to tin- revenue, but when ■ ■nil , any serious number of bad coins ire in current use confidence is shaken. 1' '-session uf such coins inflicts serious harm on innocent persons who have '.aken them without detecting the alloy, and cannot dispose of them, and the knowledge tlun bad money is in ciriMil.itnui breeds mutual suspicion, do- j -troys freedom in exchange, and sheds uncertainty on the prices of all commodities."