The Fairfield herald. [volume] (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1849-1876, 1867-10-30
How Gold Coins are Counted and Counter.
feits Detected,

feits Detected,
The coin is sent into the "Gold" Blu
reau in the New York Sub-Treasur,
from banks, the Custom House anc
other sources, whore it 10 counted ant
examined. The coin counters take ,
oag OF specie, empty it upon table
ana assert 1T separating the smaller from
the larger coin, not by the slow pro
cess OF handling each piece, but by
throwing it into seive, which by tho
SIMPLE act ofag,tation permits tho small
Ter pieces to drop through in scive
with smaller holes, and so on until the
separation is completed. This appara
tus IS the invention of NJ. e. II. Bird
sail, the Superintendent of the Depart
ment, who has been in this branch o
the Government employ for over TWEEN
ty years. After The coins are assorted
they are examined to detect counterfcits
This is done rapidly, but so accustomed
are the clerks to handle coin that they
never fail to discover coun' erfeits OF
filled pieces. I was shown several
specimens of the counterfciter's works,
which have been purchased by Mr.
Blrdsall as curiosi,es. One was a $50
gold piece, TO all appearance perfect as
possible tho weight was correct, as
also were the size and general charac.
ter, but it was filled coin. The opera
tors take a saw with which they cut
through the edge Of the piece, separa.
ting il in half. They then prepare tho
material which is to supply the abstract.
ed gold and insert it between the halves.
The whole is then submitted 10 pressure
and heat The same time, by which the
union is made ready perfect. The piece
Is then remitted and ready for reissu-
ing.
Antiquariars may remember that tho
gold pieces they used to carry were OF
different color; some were yellow and
others brassy in hue, while others were
OF copper color. The reason for this
Is explained thus. When the gold
poured into the mint from California in
large quantities. as it dill soon after the
discovery Of the precious metal, tho
machinery of the mint was insufficient
to thoroughly separate Tho silver from
It, and consequently was coined with a
large portion Of that alloy, giving a
brassy hue. Now the machinery is
perfect and gold coin has copper hue.
In a handful Of gold one may see almost
half dozen shades Of color and when
this IS considered it will be seen that the
counterleiter has 10 easy task before
nm. But so expert are some Of The
fellows that they have actually prepar.
ed G'icd pieces which they conld not
detect themselves and finally adopted
mark, which they placed upon the head
of liberty, or the face, so that they
could identify it again. Experts in
handling coin soou come to detect the
filed pieces by the appearance which
they bear in consequence Of having been
subjected to hes in the reunion, but
the operators baffled the application of
this test by putting at the same time q
number of perfect coins which had also
been subjected to heat. Now it re.
qures men Of large experience in hand
ling coin to detect the imperfecton.
Countcrfeits of base metal entire are
easy of detection. If counterfeit or
filled coin comes into the gold room, it
is cut through and then returned to the
party sending it, who is required to
substitute good money for it.
After the coin is assorted and exam
'ned it is counted, but not in the way
people ordinarily count money. A
known qnantity-say $500 or $1,000,
is placed in one scale and coin poured
INTO the other until it is counterbalanced.
Then there may be slight variation,
but not sufficient TO announce the alb
sence of one coin, and the variation is
attributed to the wearing Of the gold by
circulation, and the amount Of the scale
Is considered correct. In this way
$4,000 are counted, and then they are
deposited in a bag and ready 10 bo sent
to the safe, but not, however, before one
bag has been weighed against another,
ano thus all other errors in amount are
guarded against. t.-Bu0alo Go mmercial
1duertiser.