A DEAL IN COPPER.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXXIII, Issue 15982, 16 July 1912, Page 6

A DEAL IN COPPER.

i Tin; Christchurch Tramway Board has decided in its wisdom that the : amount of copper coin in circulation in this community is insufficient for the (purposes of a properly-conducted trami way service, and it proposes to repair i tho deficiency by returning copper in •change for a largo proportion of tho silver which is tendered to its conductors. As far as can bo gathered , from the brief mention of the matter | made at- yesterday’s meeting of tho j.Board, six pennies arc to be returned ! ns part of the change to every person who hands over a shilling or a larger piece of silver, presumably with the idea of putting such a large amount of copper in circulation among tho tra- ; vellcrs that in time tho business bej tween the Board and tho public will jbe transacted entirely on a copper basis. In view of the many thousands of tram fares paid daily it is to he presumed that the Board has made j arrangements for a supply of several j tons of. pennies, and if this presump- | tion is correct we may be permitted to ; speculate as to the results which may I flow from this sudden increase in the I copper coinage and the decrease in silver. In London the adoption of this plan by a few tramway companies has necessarily a very small effect, but in Christchurch it may be different. Wo may have to ask for a suspension of the law making copper legal. tender only up to one shilling, and the houseI wife who goes out marketing may have to carry her iunds in a portmanteau. As tramway conductors are said to j possess an unwarrantable aversion for tho harmless necessary three-penny bit, j on tho score that it is difficult change to handle, we may expect that they will seize the opportunity to withdraw as many of these coins as possible from circulation. The contents of the collection plates at the various churches after tho extinction of the smallest silver coin will provide by their nature an answer to the perennial query as to whether the world is growing better, j They may contain broad pieces of silver, I but there is at least a chance that they j will yield a rich vein of copper. Tho j Tramway Board might, perhaps, attain it® en d with less risk to the coinage system by allowing conductors to sell shilling and sixpenny concession tickets and encouraging its officials to persuado | people to buy these in place of taking change for their shillings and sixpences. Now that copper change is to be given it might be imagined that such tickets would be gladly taken as the lesser of two evils.