CHINA: Champion Mint

Money remained last week the chief weapon in China’s civil war (TIME, May 19). President Chiang Kai-shek announced that one of his major foes, famed Christian Marshal Feng Yu-hsiang, had offered to sell out and change sides for $3,000,000 Chinese silver dollars or $810,000 U. S. gold dollars. This may or may not have been true but it was significant. It lent special and peculiar point to the opening at Shanghai last week of “the greatest mint in the world.”

Ten years the Chinese mint has been abuilding. Except for the Chinese inscriptions over the door it might be mistaken for the Treasury building at Washington. With a capacity of 40,000 coins per hour, it is said to surpass in speed all other mints whatsoever. Thus a rush order for 3,000,000 silver dollars to bribe a Chinese general could be turned out in 75 hours flat.

Exactly ten years ago Money-Man Clifford Hewitt of Philadelphia went out to China fresh from reorganizing the Philippine mint. Taciturn, he prefers making money to talking about how it is made. But he did talk the Chinese out of coins-with-a-hole. The “World’s Champion Mint” will make no “doughnut money.” Thus far it has cost $5,000,000.