WORK AT THE MINT

Hokitika Guardian, 7 May 1929, Page 5

WORK AT THE MINT

MANY COINAGES MADE. MONEY FOR OTHER COUNTRIES. The Royal Mint carries out many coinages besides the' British and that of the Irish Free State. Fir Metcalfe, the designer, is to be congratulated upon his ‘/‘charming work’'' and the Free State Government upon their breakaway •from, ;tho modern sitoneotyped coin design'and tile introduction of what is;‘ perhaps, the most interesting series of coin designs of recent times, says the “Observer.” A special piece of the value of 45 piasltreis was issued for the (Government of Cyprus to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the British occupation of the island. A coin of this denomination had not. previously 'been included in the coinage series of Cyprus, though the Coinage Order of 1900 allowed such a piece to.be struck at the ■request of the High Commissioner. The coin is the equivalent of the British crown piece. The reverse bears the device of two leopards, as on the arms adopted for the colony. The gh>verse has bust' in general use for cofSnial coijiages* . The Canberra florins, the designs and djps for'.* which were prepared at the .-Mint, 1 ; wefe struck at- the Melbourne branch Mint. For silver pieces oflOO mils and 60 ntii||i nickelbronze pieces of- 20, 10 and Snails, ajid bronze 2 and 1 mil pieces, been coined.: Ai Palestine gold'spu|icl the. pqpiVaJent : of" t/he .soyers\gti, has been authorised, but no proposal has yet been made to coin it. A few months ago bullion was transferred from the Treasury at, Bucarest to London and refined for a. new gold coinage from Rumania in four denominations— 100, 50, 25, and 20 lei. The 100 and 20 lei pieces are of the form customary in countries which originally adhered to the Latin Union. The 50 and 25-lei pieces arc of comparatively large diameter anti thinner proportion and conform to the type of the Austrian quadruple and doubleducat pieces or to the sequins of Ah like and of the Ottoman Empire, of which,they are the historical descendants. Models for these coins were originally prepared by Monsieur Damunann, of Paris, but it was in' a relief which it was technically impossible to reproduce on a coinage. New models in lower relief were therefore prcpaied by Mr Percy Metcalfe, “who succeeded in this unusual task, without sacrificing any of the peculiar charm of the originals.” , R ‘ T 7 ; . ; Mr Metcalfe has-alfeo-heen upon a new model of' the head King Fuad for the- Egyption coinage, and upon the effigy of King Feisal for the coinage of Irak. , ..... ,In view of the fact tliat the Arms of the Dominion of Canada granted by the Royal Proclamation in 1921 differ in some respects from those shown on the Canadian gold coinage struck some years ago, new dies haafj? been prepared for the ten and five-dol-lar pieces embodying in the reverse designs the Arms as now authorisedWhile there H no present intention of issuing a new Canadian gold coinage, if such were urgently called for, the anachronism of striking the, pieces with dies bearing superseded heraldry will now be avoidable.