Turning Cartwheels

As befits its sacred charge, the U.S.

Treasury is a sedate and solemn place, seldom troubled by the clink of coinage, the rustle of greenbacks, or the hoarse cry of greed. But last week the august halls reverberated with so much clinking, rustling, shouting and shoving that the Secret Service had to be called out to handle the situation.

The basic cause of all the excitement was the silver dollar. None have been minted since 1935, and the supply has been dwindling enough to bring a new sound to Las Vegas: in casino after casino the muted click of plastic chips has supplanted the tintinnabulation of traditional cartwheels. Last fortnight the House Appropriations Committee refused the Treasury permission to mint new silver dollars on the grounds that all its facilities should be devoted to stemming the growing shortage of small change being gobbled up by vending machines. This, plus the news that in delving into its dwindling supply of cartwheels, the Treasury had reached a supply of "Morgan" dollars in the back of its vaults, set off a major and unexpected numismatic march on Washington.

Wagons & Hampers. Morgan dollars, named for their British-born designer George T. Morgan, were minted between 1878 and 1921. The collector's-item Morgans range from an 1878 minted at Carson City, which sells for about $10, to the 1893 San Francisco, currently worth $1,200-$ 1,500.

From all over the country collectors descended on the Treasury, toting children's express wagons, Army surplus ammunition boxes and laundry hampers, camping out on the steps overnight to get a good place in line for the 9-to-l 1 exchange period every morning, when paper money (silver certificates) may be redeemed. Treasury officials set a limit of $50,000 at first, later reduced this to $1,000.

When the two-hour period was up each day, those still waiting had to be dispersed by guards; the lucky ones hauled their 60-lb. sacks of cartwheels off to root through them for valuable Morgans. How many--if any--of them turned up is still unknown. But after all, the collectors couldn't lose--even if there was not a Morgan or other rarity in the lot. All they had to do was turn their bag in to the nearest bank and get their handy paper money back. And this, to the Treasury's distress, was just what many did.

Crystals on Demand. As the pulling and hauling dragged on day after day, Treasury officials finally decided to call a halt. A mere 3,000,000 silver dollars were left in the vaults (out of 28 million on Jan. 1), and Secretary Douglas Dillon let it be known that the Treasury would take its time about deciding what to do with the cartwheels that remained. Possible alternatives: melt them down, auction them off to dealers and collectors, put price tags on them and sell them over the counter, or put the whole thing up to Congress.

What then of the pledge inscribed on some 95% of all U.S. dollar bills: This certifies that there is on deposit in the Treasury of the United States of America one dollar in silver payable to the bearer on demand? From now on, said Dillon, silver certificates will be redeemed at the U.S. Assay Offices in New York City or San Francisco with envelopes containing exactly 0.77 of a "fine troy" ounce of silver crystals, worth a dollar at the official monetary rate for silver: $1.29 per oz. Collectors will be hard put to trade up their value --they will bear no identifying marks of any kind.

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