Hallamshire.
_Cause of Rarity of William IV.'s Copper Coinage._--The copper coinage of
William IV. is become so scarce, that possibly a doubt may some day arise,
whether any but a very limited issue of it was ever made; it may be well,
therefore, to introduce a _note_ on the cause of its disappearance, while
the subject is comparatively recent.
When the copper coins of the last reign appeared, a slight tinge in the
colour of the metal excited the suspicion of those accustomed to examine
such things, that it contained gold, which proved to be the fact; hence
their real value was greater than that for which they passed current, and
they were speedily collected and melted down by manufacturers, principally,
I believe, as an alloy to gold, whereby every particle of that metal which
they contained was turned to account. I have been told that various
Birmingham establishments had agents in different parts of the country,
appointed to collect this coinage.