[Volume XXVII THE CHICAGO BANKER 6 100 YEARS OLD IN 1910 This is the oldest bank in the United States west of the Alleghany Mountains. In February, 1910, it will be 100 years old, having been in continuous existence since 1810. It has passed through four wars and the many severe financial panics of this country, and has never failed to protect its depositors. It conducts a general banking business; makes loans and receives deposits, issues letters of credit and makes collections on all parts of the world. <1 It desires to extend its connections with banks in all parts of the United States, and invites propositions for the collection of its business. sociatioT\ w WILSON A. SHAW, President HARRISON NESBIT, Vice-P.ei. Detecting Bad Coins I have often been asked, said a bank cashier, how it is that, with thousands of coins of all values passing daily through my hands, I am able to detect counterfeits instantaneously. Of course, there are various methods, known to every bank cashier, of testing a suspected coin. There is the important test of weight (base coins invariably weighing light), the test of brittleness (a genuine coin is practically unbreakable) and inexact “milling,” not to mention more elaborate tests with acids. But these may be disregarded, for the simple reason that a cashier on a busy counter has no time to employ such tests. It is impossible for him to pick up and examine each coin separately. He has to count money with extreme rapidity, and has not time to bestow more than a glance on the coins at the same time. How is it possible for him in this fraction-of-a-second glance to distinguish between a genuine coin and a counterfeit? Bank men themselves are far from clear on the subject. Most cashiers, on being questioned will tell you that the “feel” of a counterfeit coin is different. This peculiar “feel” they will describe as greasy. But money received from butchers, for instance, is invariably greasy, just as money received from publicans or fish merchants is sticky. It is certainly not by the sense of touch that one detects counterfeit coins. Nor is good eyesight an infallible safeguard against a really well-made base coin. Some counterfeits are so cleverly done that the sharpest eyes are unable, by merely glancing at them, to distinguish between them and the genuine article. The only explanation I can offer is that after a certain amount of experience among good coins a man acquires a sort of “instinct” for counterfeits. It is this instinct which causes him to hesitate and examine a particular coin when checking money rapidly. Often I have been pulled up sharp on encountering a coin identical in appearance with those surrounding it, and have found it, on careful examination, to be a “wrong ’un.” It looked and felt all right, but failed to stand a detailed scrutiny. One must remember, however, that it is impracticable to give this detailed scrutiny to every coin, and, unless my theory is accepted, it is impossible to explain what makes one select a particular coin for examination. Puget Sound Savings Bank Charles E. Brower has been elected vice-president of the Puget Sound Savings Bank, Tacoma, Wash. Mr. Brower was assistant cashier of the National Bank of Commerce, resigning December ist to take up his duties at the Savings Bank. Mr. Brower came to Tacoma 13 years ago. He was for a time cashier of the First National, of Pullman, Wash. V* Alfred L. Meyerstein is president of the Metropolis Trust and Savings Bank, San Francisco. it would be a center of political and business disturbance. No central bank could satisfy the various needs of such a country as ours without arousing jealousies and antagonisms because we have not in our public sentiment the influence which in Europe takes for granted that what the central banks do cannot be questioned either from the standpoint of politics or business. Criticism there is, but it is always on a high plane, and never involves attacks on individuals or imputations of the integrity of their purposes. c. H. CHURCH Muncie, Ind. MAUSOLEUM The above mausoleum is one ot our simple, well constructed designs which can be erected at a comparatively low cost with six to eight crypts. How much less barbarous this method is than burying in the ground. Write for free booklet on “Monuments” to CHAS. G. BLAKE & CO. The Old and Reliable Makers of Mausoleum» and Monuments 782 Woman's Temple TeL 115 Main Chicago, 111. amount previously authorized, a reserve fund of five hundred million in national currency, designated emergency currency, which may on application be issued to national banks, as hereafter provided, whenever the board of commissioners decide an emergency exists. Eighth. The national banks who have already issued circulation to the maximum of their capital may apply for emergency circulation, and on approval shall deposit with their state clearing association current unmatured loans received in their usual course of business, to consist of two name paper endorsed by the bank, to any amount, not exceeding twice their capital, all to be approved by the state clearing association, who will issue a certificate therefor to the bank applying, and when said certificate is deposited with the central clearance bank, there may be issued thereon an amount of emergency currency, not exceeding 60 per cent of the certificate. All emergency currency shall be deemed within the period of six months from date of issue, and the tax thereon shall be at the rate of one-half of one per cent payable monthly. Ninth. All taxes received on circulation to be first applied in paying the expenses of the central clearance bank, and the excess to be placed in a fund to be invested in bonds, to be approved by the board of commissioners, and held to idemnify the federal government against loss on the issue of any national or emergency currency issued under this act. V “Daily Banker” on Central Bank Idea Most people will admit that the central banks of Europe are useful institutions, even if they do not like the idea for ourselves. They perceive that they tend to regulate the money markets, and that they furnish means in times of panic. They also realize that these institutions are in high esteem among the people of the various countries which they serve. All this is admitted, but it fails to make the suggestion convincing that we ought to set up a central bank for our own use. The central banks of Europe are the result of a process of development. They did not spring into being over night, and they were not introduced into the midst of a system of banking already existing. For this reason, the jealousy, suspicion and business rivalry which to an institution of this sort introduced arbitrarily among us would excite, cannot exist in Europe. The European central banks are never the subject of political discussion, simply because they have existed so long and proven their usefulness by a long series of honorable precedents. The popular sentiment which holds the managers of the great European banks in such high estimation and the abstention of political interference or manipulation would be impossible here. It would be impossible to select a management for a central bank which would satisfy the whole country, and it would be impossible to keep the operations of such a bank outside the field of political discussion. Instead of being a useful instrument for our business affairs,