MINTING OF CROWNS

Wanganui Chronicle, 11 October 1948, Page 4

MINTING OF CROWNS

21IUJ UIUOiUJ i'Ult nuiAL auUVjJdiiS Laol ..light (SpCC.)« —a he i__i.ii ung in r-ngianu ot soma 2UU,UUu pieces ana aoout 32U ( - uuu meuais tor scnooicniidren in com* memoration ot tne Koyai visit to i\ew; z.eaianu next year is to De under* taken snortly. it is believed mere iias oeen some delay causea in thei selection ot a suitaole design tor tna crown piece, but this point now ha* oeen decided. It is understood tnat. tne crown pieces will contain DO per cent, silver, and medals will be ol alloy with no silver content. Tha amount oi silver required has been estimated at 24 tons or, roughly, i* r’s output from the Martha iviir . aihi. 1. “Chronicle” was informed that a tentative approach was made by tha Government recently to secure iron* the mine, the silver required loai minting the crowns. It was the Martha mine which supplied tha silver lor the famous Waitangi crow A piece and the centennial coms. How* ever, later negotiations with tlie Master of the Royal Mint in England revealed that the Mint itself will make available the silver necessary for the coins. These crown piece* will be first New Zealand coins to contain silver since legislation was passed a year ago restricting our coins to a cupro-nickel compound entirely. The reason for this legislation* was to divert silver to the United Kingdom Government to enable it to repay the United States for huge silver borrowings it made during thei war years. It has not yet been disclosed how the Government pro* poses to distribute the commemorative crowns, but the system is likely to work through the Reserve Bank, which will meet all applications for coins until the stock is exhausted. Schoolchildren will be able to secure their medals through the schools. This distribution will be free. It has been estimated that the State will gather a windfall of something like £25,000 profit on the sale of th® crown pieces.