Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 50, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 January 1892 — Redemption of Paper Money. [ARTICLE]

Redemption of Paper Money.

Paper money drops from circulation, but is not lost; whenever a note becomes very much soiled and worn it is sent to the Treasury for redemption. The women experts employed to examine the money sent in are wonderfully skillful. It is marvelous how deftly they will poke over a few charred fragments of notes and set an accurate valuation upon them. Not very long ago a poor woman sent a wee corner of a twenty-dollar bill, with a pitiful story about her baby’s having burnt it. Hardly more was left than a fragment big enough to show the figures of the denomination, but she will get the money back. Mice are great destroyers of paper currency, and some of the most hopeless specimens that come in have been chewed up for beds for these little rodents. Sometimes a Dill-box full of indistinguishable ashes will arrive, accompanied by a certificate stating the amount represented. Of course, such a case is hopeless. It is usually a kitchen-stove catastrophe. Kitchen stoves burn up more cash every year than is lost in any other way. People confide their hoards to them for hiding, and when they are lighted the greenbacks go up in smoke. It has been estimated that one per cent, of paper money is lost or destroyed. Of the old fractional currency it is reckoned that eight million dollars’ worth has been totally lost