The Parable of the Minted Coin

The Parable of the Minted Coin

BY DR. JAMES E. TALMAGE

It was once my privilege to make a visit of inspection to the

United States Mint at Philadelphia. This is the largest and best

equipped establishment of its kind in the country and within

;

its walls a large proportion of our national coinage is minted, the

output ranging from the bronze penny and the nickel piece to the

silver dollar with its fractions, thence to the eagle, its half and

its double in gold.

I was one of a small party individually invited by the Director

of the Mint, under whose official guidance we were conducted

through the several departments. In the section devoted to the

coining of gold there was great activity, due to the fact that a

targe issue of eagles, or ten dollar gold-pieces, had been ordered

by the Treasury Department, of which the Mint is a bureau. As

privileged visitors we were allowed to view the processes at

close range from first to last.

We observed the preliminary assay of the gold, and the intro-

duction of the small proportion of base metal to insure the hard-

ness and fineness required by law then followed the casting of

;

the molten metal into ingots, the rolling of these into strips or

fillets each of the exact thickness prescribed. From the thick

ribbons of gold, disks were cut, of the diameter and thickness

required for the finished coin, and known as blanks or planchets.

Though in weight and fineness as true as any eagles in circula-

tion, they were at this stage but smooth pieces of metal ; they

lacked the stamp that would make them legal tender in the country.

The process that followed next was to me the most impres-

sive of all. The yellow blanks were fed into the great "striking

machine" that held the dies. One by one they were delivered to

the lower die or anvil then the arm holding the upper die de-

;

scended with noiseless precision and lo what a moment before

; !

had been but an unmarked disk of metal, was now a stamped coin,

bearing the attest of the nation as to its genuineness. The pressure

exerted upon the piece between the dies was such as to make the

gold flow like a viscous mass a rigid collar confined it, however,

;

and produced the milled edge, while the circular border of the

die gave the slight elevation of the rim which is nece-sary to re-

tard the wearing away of the stamped surface.

Notwithstanding the tremendous force behind the descending

die, the operation seemed so gentle, so speedy, and so quiet, as to

918 IMPROVEMENT ERA

suggest only a passing* touch nevertheless the imprinted piece

;

will never forget the experience of that moment. Only through

disfigurement can it belie its authoritative stamp only through

;

acid corrosion, long continued attrition, or destructive violence,

can the impress be obliterated and by such defacement the piece

;

would fall below the established standard of value, and would

cease to pass as a legal medium of exchange. The stamped disks,

no longer blank, but to all appearances finished coins, were then

weighed on an automatic balance of extreme precision, by which

any chance defective piece was thrown out.

As a true coin of the realm the yellow eagle issued from the

mint. Wherever it goes it will bear testimony to the official im-

press it received in that moment of pressure and stress, to the

authority it bears as an intrinsic endowment, a commission, an

appointment, such as shall be respected throughout the country,

and even in other lands, for the credit and the official assurance

of the nation are behind the stamp on the coin.

Think of what may be done by virtue of the power pos-

sessed by that stamped disk of gold. It may bring food to the

famishing, clothing to the needy, professional attendance and

skilled nursing to the afflicted it mav help to build a cottage, a

;

mansion, palace, castle, or temple it may go to pay the way

; .

on errands of mercy it may be made a means of relief and

;

blessing to thousands. With such capacitv for good, however,

there is correllated a corresponding power for evil. That same

gold-piece, because of its official stamp, may buy fuel to feed the

flames of lust it mav be bartered for the liquor that corrodes

;

body, mind and soul it may purchase the bomb that destrovs the

;

very structure it once assisted to build it mav pass in exchange

;

for the murderer's weapon, and may even hire the murderer it ;

may prove a veritable curse to its temporary possessor.

Had it never been touched bv the die in the mint, had it not

received the stamp that insures it currency, it would be just as

truly gold, intrinsically worth the full ten dollars for the metal

of which it consists but it would be of no ready service, since

;

every time it changed hands the receiver would have to weigh

it and determine its composition. Such necessity would involve

consideration, test, calculation, and withal, hesitation and caution,

with nossible failure to meet the exigencies of the time.

—

How like that precious gift of God the assurance and testi-

mony of the gospel of Christ, how like the bestowal of the gift of

the Holv Ghost bv the authoritative imnosition of hands, how like

the divine call and ordination to the Holy Priesthood, is the stamp

on the coin ! The soul so impressed, so chosen, so ordained,

shows by word and act as well as by silent influence, the touch of

the finger of God, even though the divine contact has been but

momentary.