National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1873-08-08
CONTEMPLATING GOLD COIN.
Ingenuity OF Ceuntsrfcitsrs-A Gevsru
mspt RxDePf. ~ NO.

Ingenuity OF Ceuntsrfcltsrs-A Govern-
| ..... msat RxpePf. 4Ir I've. d.
The New York Times prints the following
interview with Mr.. Ashley, Of tho sub-Treas-
ury, In New York, In regard to the counter
feitlng gold coins:
Referring to the practice OF countcrfelting,
Mr.. Ashley remarked that there were Allied
coins Of the denomination Of go, and then
added; 81 suppose you don't know what q
response TO his query, Mr.. Ashley took from
o small drawer double eagle, which, to all
appearance, was perfectly genuine. The min
| utest examination Of the surface and OF the
milled edge failed 10 disclose any marks OF
fraudulent manipulation; the weight wa cor
rect to the decimal Of . grain, and when
struck on tho counter the coin gave loud,
q ncighboring pile OF the genuine article.
Nothing seemed wanting In this skillful eoun-
terfeit, but II was counterfeit, nevertheless.
"This Is q allied coin, continued Mr.. Ash
ley, as he balanced II on the tip Of his fingers.
THE weight Is correct, Il appears good, the
acid test would fall on II, and the sound is
true. II Is one Of the most dangerous coun-
terfeits ever made. Hero Is another, cut
through tho centre, 70 show the filling. You
sec that the insidc Of tho coin b nllsd with q
composition Of platinA. To al In this the
niilled edge has been carefully removed, the
coin sliced In two, and the inside Of II pared
away, leaving the two faces intact. An
weight has been substituted for the more val
liable metal removed, and the several parts
Of the coin have been skillfully jolned to-
gether again; and none but an expert can
detect the signs Of the work. From double
eagle the amount Of gold thus removed
living u hs only made one Of these allied
n
In response to an inquiry how the fraudu-
lent coins were detected, Mr.. Ashley stated
that there was clerk In the building who
could pick every one out Of heap OF gen.
uine coin as unerringly 'as mother would
You shall see, )" he continued, and taxing he
hled piece, he placed II edgewise among
some forty or more pure ones. Then laying
the pile down, he called from his place, some
distance of, one Of his clerks, and said "Mr.
randy, Will you please separate the good
from the bad In these coinsi" The gentle
man thus addressed ser9tinized the nptuned
edges OF the coins, and threw out the coun-
terfcit In On instant. Mr.. Ashley then spread
them out on the counter, and thoroughly
mixed them up, Again the counterfeit was
detected at q glance, Twice the experiment
was made, aud with the same result. Some
one diverted Mr.. Tnndy's attention for an In
slant, and Mr.. Ashley quietly removed the
counterfeit coin, and once more asked theex-
pert to search the mass. He did So but was
not deceived, though for q moment puzzled.
lie. pronounced all the coins to be genuine;
and Mr.. Ashley triumphantly threw down
the counterfeit. Mr.. Tandy could not explain
how he detected the false pieces further than
that they did not look right" and Mr.. Ash
ley frankly confessed he could not himself
tell how h was done, neither could he do It. |
Some Of the filled pieces were shown, which |
seemed absolutely perfect; particularly one
hre-dollar piece, which was pronounced |
',maryel OF Workmanship" To successfully |
''hlr' coin 80 ANAL and thin US this Is natn- |
rally more difficult and delicate operation |
than filling the thick and heavy double |
eagles; but the peryerse ingenuity OF the |
of 90 skillful an expert as the gentleman who |
admiringly displayed the coin to the reporter /
u competent 70 detect the fraps.