| Show SOUVENIR COINS WO so premium on an columbian halt half dollars or isabella quarters three years ago wanted a columbian half dollar and an isabella qu quarter arter and wanted it bad if anybody who wanted van either of the tee worlds fair souvenirs lad bad enough to pay over a dollar for it he could generally get it without much trouble sentiment however er is just about as liable to slump as the wheat market and anyone who has the hard bard morre more i saver s lvir mementos of the fair today to day could probably be pe persuaded I 1 to part with a columbian hall hal dollar for about 51 cents and hand over the Isal isabella bella coin for about a cent plus a qua quarter arter of a dollar the coins never enjoyed the pop popularity flarity that was expected tw two 0 million five hundred thousand of the columbian half dollars were coined and isabella quarters four hundred thousand of the half dolor and about of the quarters are still in the treasury of the united state right in chicago in the rand mi Nally building year and a half ago a rule was made bythel by the treasury d apartment part ment that these half dollars could be evenly exchanged for gold the worlds fair souvenir sentiment was bof nc quite dead yet and thre there was enough of it alive to send in gold buzzi buzzing ng straight over to the to pull out in columbian Columbi in halves or of the coins af A that time there was about of the halves in the about half of this amount was left after the first rush was made to exchange gold for the halves baltes on ever terms almost this entire half still remains in the and there appears to be no wild desire on the part of holders holder of gold to exchange any of it for the he col jubian souvenirs Asi assistant stant J C P pratt said that in all probability the treasury department would some duy day give out the columbian silver money as ordinary currency A most interesting regulation exists regarding the disposition of the isabella quarters As only of the quarters quarter were ever corned coined they are of course rare and far more scarce than the halves according to a rule of the treasury these quarters are only paid out on drafts of worlds fair officials of course many have been taken out of the treasury un jer this regulation and the 1200 or 1500 remaining in the vaults of the will probably oe be exhausted before very tery long loag by worlds fai fair r drafts mr pratt said mid that so far as he could see the half dollars not now prized very highly by the holders of them with whom he had come in contact in en an official way as he says say they hey come in quite often to the treasury in in ordinary business transactions just jus as does the commonplace common place currency currency without any attention being paid to their souvenir qualities by the man passing them in since the quarter are not 0 so plentiful they are naturally valued a little more bi highly gIlly and are set seldom if ever eve r seen in in the currency eur rency handled in business transactions chicago inter ocean |
