Show THE EXPOSITIO N DOLLAR HOAX For some time past The Tribune has been In receipt of inquiries about a silver sil-ver dollar the possession of which i would entitle the holder lo a free trIp to the St Louis exposition or that would pay for such trln or something of that kind A query submitted to our Sunday Question and Answer department depart-ment was recently answered by the statement that we had heard nothing I about the dollar or the claim with respect re-spect to it But now we have nn explanation ex-planation from the SpokesmanReview of Spokane Washington in a special from Davenport in that State It seems that a report was III circulation circu-lation to the effect that but 2CO silver dollars had been coined in the San Francisco mint In ISJl and that the coin Is now worth seventytwo times its nominal value and that some one whose identity was not disclosed was offering a free trip to the St Louis fair next yoar for every one of these coins sent In nobody seemed to know Just where A local wag of Davenport added that one of th < banks there had the whole issue of these coins Of course the whole story is a hoax Though the explanation comes from that place in Washington State it is evident that the rumor was widespread yet no one seemed to have any definite defi-nite information about It and to get that information The Tribune was appealed ap-pealed to But not having the facts hitherto 1 we were unable then to give them There was no such restricted coinage at the San Francisco mint nor aCHhe Philadelphia mint There Is no premium prem-ium at all on the silver dollars of 1S01 nobody offers a Irip to St Louis for thorn unless the full number of dollars to pay for the trip is tendered The number of silver dollars coined at the San Francisco mint in 1S94 was 1200000 at tho Philadelphia mint the same year 110000 The smallest coinage of silver dollars In any recent year at San Francisco Fran-cisco was lu 1S03 when the number coined was 100000 The smallest silver dollar coinage for many years at the Philadelphia mint was 12880 in 1SU5 But we have heard of no premium on the coins of either year So passes another hoax got up to fool the credulous |