A YEAR AT THE MINT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14145, 21 August 1909, Page 2 (Supplement)

A YEAR AT THE MINT.

FACTS AND FIGURES FROM A

MONEY-MAKING PLACE.

A Buff Book recently issued contains the annual report on the year's working at the Mint. As usual, much interest attaches to the story which the Deputy Master and Controller of that institution has to tell of the issues and receipts, and to his observations as to the features of the twelve months' period. At the outset, abstracting it from one of the many tables, one may present this summary of the Imperial coinage of 1908: —■ Sovereigns ... ... ... 11,729,006 Half-sovereigns 3,996,992 Half-crowns 1,758,889 Florins ... 3,280,010 Shillings ... 3,806,969 Sixpences ... ' ' 6,739,491 Fourpences (Maundy) ... 9,929 Threepences .. fa,175,934 Twopences (Maundy) ... 14,8* c . Pence (Maundy) ... ... 18,150 Pence 31,506,048 Halfpence 15,620,800 Farthings ... 4,264,960 Thus, the total number of coins struck at the. Royal Mint during the year was 91,921,993, -and the nominal value of £14,907,108 ..2s 6d. In addition, there were struck 34,561,049 colonial coins, of a nominal value of £713,131 lis 7d, making a grand total of 126,483,042 pieces, of . a nominal value of £15,620,239 4s Id.

With regard to silver coins, the total issue was less than half that of the previous year, being 18,203,500 pieces, against 37,265,570 in 1907.

A very handsome profit, however, was made on the silver coin of the year. The weight of silver bullion purchased for coinage (at a cost of £350,566 16s 8d) was 3,439,560.180z, representing an issue value of £945,879 Is, and the gross profit obtained, therefore, was £595,312 ' 4s 4d, equivalent to 169.83 per cent. The weight of worn coin received (nominal value £276,807 6s 6d) amounted to 924,695.940z, equal, at the Mint coining rate of 5s 6d per ounce, to £254,291 7s 7d. The total expenditure for metal, therefore, was £627,374 3s 2d, from which coin was produced of the nominal value of £1,200,170 8s 7d, so that there was a profit on the purchases of bullion and worn coin together at the rate of 91.3 per cent. .As to bronze, the issues of such coin amounted to £155,580, a falling off of £71,970. The number of pennies issued was 30,345,600, of halfpence 11,644,800, and of farthings 4,684,800. An interesting report is submitted by Dr. Rose on the life and wear of the silver coinage of the country. From this it appears that of all silver coins sixpences have the shortest life, and return to the Mint in the worst condition. Sixpences and shillings also suffer the heaviest annual percentage of loss and the heaviest loss per unit of surface. The respective ages at which the various silver coins reach the stage of illegibility are presented in the following table—, ■' . '-.'' . ' ' 'Tears;. Ha'f-crowns ... ... ........ 64.66 Florirn ... ... ... 45.41 'Shillings ... ' ...... -...41.61 .;, Sixpences . ...... ... ... 28.22 Threepences ~. .~» ... . 32.7fr -