False Coins that Are Better Value Than Real Front Ocn Own Connesroxvext Harbin, Feb, 22.
When we were much younger, we remember reading or hearing" of horrid criminals, daring to counterfeit fand imitate the coin of the realm, making it part of their lives' work to palm off on unsuspecting, peaceful citizens coinage consisting. of a jure of zine, lead, tin, copper, anchovy paste and a little silver instead of pure, white, shining silver prescribed by law, When discovered, those arehnals usually lost their heads or lives with the assistance of the hangman, Served them right!
But now I read the other day of people (you cannot very well call them criminals in this ease) who substitute pure silver coins for the legal coinage of the realm, consisting. of an alloy which does not fit [with any description. It spears to have happened at Dairen, where 50- fen pieces have been discovered at the Post Office, made of pure silver and tendered in payment of tiny Pieces of paper, called stamps.
The Japanese authorities became naturally, thoroughly alarmed. What if the people would prefer the homemade, boot-leg, pure silver 50-sen piece, to the Tokyo-Government Joke '50-sen piece can be made, official, alloy coin? It is no
ma for about 5 sen! 'a dozen, whereas a'pure silver imstation is always worth about 20 sen a piece, Economists, readers of our paper, and they form the great majority, will tell and explain to you that} this is all due to the low price of silver in the London and New-York markets. Quite true, but what about the position of the Japanese 60-sen Piece and its creators, both official] and imitating?
At first sight, one would like to suggest to the authorities in this part of the world, immediately to coin 5, 10, 20 and 50 cent pieces of silver instead of printing them on bad paper.
But from information obtained, it been, justly decided in order not, to rob the various issuing banks of their enormous profits to wait until! the price of silver is below that of printing paper.
Until that time the German manufacturers of "Penny-in-the-slot" machines, will have to wait manufacturing' machines for the sale of peanuts, sunflower seed, pampooshki, and other delicacies the Manchurian industry, It is a pity, though, all the same, that the Mexican silver-mine-owners have resolved to reduce the output of that beautiful metal, and thus to keep up its price,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.