Page:Morley--Travels in Philadelphia.djvu/188

 Again—I don't know just why—I thought of Lenine and Trotzky.

There were also more truckloads of the old silver dollars on their way to the fire. Some of them, though dated back in the seventies, seemed as good as new; others were badly worn. They were piled up in lots of 40,000, which, when new, would weigh 34,375 ounces; one lot, I was told, had lost 208 ounces through abrasion.

In the big coining room the presses were busily at work stamping out new coins, and women operators were carefully examining the "blanks" for imperfections before they go under the dies. To one who expected to see vast quantities of shining new American coinage it was odd to learn that almost all the machines were busy turning out small change for Peru and Argentina. Next week, the foreman said, they start on a big order of the queer coins of Siam, which have a hole in the middle, like the Chinese money. But I saw one machine busy turning out Lincoln pennies at the rate of 100 a minute. The one-cent piece requires a pressure of forty tons to stamp the design on the metal; the larger coins, of course need a heavier pressure, up to 120 tons.

The Mint's wonderful collection of coins and medals of all lands would deserve an article of its own. One of the rarities of which the curator is most proud is a terra-cotta medallion of Franklin, made by Nini at Chaumont in 1777. It is in perfect condition and was bought by the Mint from a