The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1878-09-14
Counterfeit Coin.

readers attention is the alarming in
crease in the issue of fraudulent coin.
The number of detections made at the
! Treasury shows that this business is on
the increase. A reporter was recently
sent to the offices of the Elevated road
to learn the proportion of base coin re-
ceived. 1t is difficult, however, to OBJ
tain the truth at such places, because
they pay out as they receive, without
close examination. There can be no
doubt, however, that large amount of
"queer'' has been worked off in this
city since specie payment was resumed.
1t is done by those who purchase it at a
low price and shove it off in that easy
manner which is so readily attained by
this class. The extent of the counter
feiting business is illustrated by the fact
that very large proportion of our
State-PrisOn population is under SEN
tence for this crime.
Counterfeiting was practiced in the
colonies at comparatively early day.
Turning to our records of the olden
time, | find that in January, 1873, the
amount of counterfeit money in circula-
ton was estimated at $4,000, and bill
was presented at the Colonial Legisla-
ture to remedy the evils which this fraud
inflicted on the community. The cur
rency thus forged was colonial, and the
task was not difficult, since the genuine
was very poorly engraved.
Philip Schuyler, afterward famed in
the Revolution, proposed to meet the
difficulty with an improvement in art.
His plan was to have a plate made so
perfect as to defy imitation. How lit
tie did he imagine that fraud generally
enlists the best wOrkmen! Schuyler al
so suggested devices to awaken terror.
Every genuine note should bear an eve
looking out from a cloud; also, a cart, q
coffin and gallows. On the latter
three counterfeiterS were to hang, sur
rounded by weeping mothers and chill
dren. Beneath this dreadful scene was
to be inscribed, "Let the name of the
money-maker rot" AS an additional
security "the Government Printer
should make oath that the plates had
never been out of his hands, and when
his task was done the plates were to be
sealed up and placed in the Treasurers
| hands" A reward was also to be Of
fered for the detection of counterfeiters,
whose punishment was death. Not
withstanding Schuyler's precautions,
fraud both in currency and specie has
contrived to be a prominent feature in
crime, and every advance indeed in the
art of engraving or coinage is met by
corresponding advance in the art of
fraud.
The public is often curious to know
how such splendid counterfeits are
made. The principal agent is some
tirst-class engraver who may have lost
his regular employment through dissi-
patton, and who may, therefore, be the
more easily reached. 1t is to be no.
ticed that there seems always some one
of this class ready for the work. The
general quotation for g the queer Gas
counterfeit money is termed) is one
third the face, and thus packages of
800 are sold at S33, and sometimes for
less. Among the most expert hands at
"shoving the queer are women, and
this sex is invariably found in the gangs
who work this craft. They always con-
trive to have little good money on
hand, and if detected < are Immediately
ready to rectify any mistake The
easiest money to shove was the postal
currency, of which there were 500 coun-
terfeits.
The ambition of the counterfeiter of
coin is only limited by the Government
issue. Our largest coin is the double
eagle, of which a good imitation can be
made for So, thus leaving profit of
$14 on each piece. These counterfeits
have an attractive exterior and are well
calculated to deceive even good Judges.
This is the more reasonable since it is
really a good shell formed by splitting a
genuine coin, of which two-thirds is re-
moved. The space is then filled with
platinum and the sides are joined in a
very finished manner, the milling be-
ing neatly renewed. The weight is
precisely that OF the genuine, and upon
the whole it is a remarkable success.
Eagles and half-eagles are also fire.
| quently counterfeited, and the latter of
1872 are so perfect an imitation that
they may really be called dangerous.
In fact, the rogues made them so eX-
pensive that the issue was limited by
the lack of profit. They are really
worth sixty per cent, which leaves too
small margin for ordinary circulation.
| To pay in satisfactory manner sthey
ought not to cost more than thirty per
cent.
Gold coin is tempered with in varie-
ty of ways, each of which is very in
genious, for this is specially separate
from counterfeiting. One is sweating
or jingling the coin in a buckskin bag,
by which per cent. can be made.
Twice as much, however, can be made
by filing the edge, but this requires a
master-hand, since the appearance must
not be marred even in the least. Plug
ging has only been discovered in double
eagles. Holes are drilled into the coin
and are filled with base metal, the gain
being about SO on each. Another more
thorough method of plugging yields six
times as much profit, but, as a matter
of course, is more easily detected.
The counterfeits of this kind are of
wide variety of value. Trade dollars
are extensively initiated, and then there
| is a large business done in halves, quar-