The Middlebury register and Addison County journal. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1883-1885, 1883-10-19
DANGEROUS COUNTERFEIT.
ONLY DETECTED BY THE HALF NOTE
IN THE COINS RING.
A Treasury CIcrlt's Trained Sense of
Ecari1g-A Paper Money Countor r.
felt Mnuc with Pen and Ink.

lOlh SuD-tltdoull WIZ HIS u hGnly
trained sense of hearing. With it he has
been enabled to detect one of the most
dangerous counterfeits ever made in this
country. According to an official of the
secret service here this clerk while en-
gagged in counting silver coin tossed each
one upon table in front of him. Ordi-
narily counterfeit coin rings lower than
the genuine Each coin of the clerks
count rang Just right for some time
when he heard note from falling coin
one-half note higher than the genuine
ring.
Had his ear been deceived? He tested
the coin again and it rang out the half q
note higher than it should. This expert
clerk now was convinced there was some
thing wrong about the coin. He picked
up bottle of acid and applied that test.
The coin appeared genuine, for its sur
face stood the acid test The coin was
weighed. Its weight was correct. His
associate clerk said: "The coin is genu-
inc" The clerk was about to pass the
coin on but he rang it again, and the
persistent half note too high made him
pause. lie took out a knife and cut
deeply into the coin.
Now he again employed the acid 1t
WIS DOuIcl llllO lnt cut anu uJ OuCc IT,
vealed center of base metal
The triumphant clerk now had the
coin cut open, revealing the most sue
cessful counterfeit coin ever made in this
country The center is full of base
metal compressed by heavy pressure
until it has nearly the density of silver.
This center is then heavily plated with
thirty cents worth of silver. This plat
ing is so thick that it readily rcsists the
acid. In appearance, weight and rim it
is so close to the genuine that no one but
the experts in the New York sub-treasury
have discovered them. Not single bank
has reported anything of this counterfeit.
1t is fully six months since this counter
felt was discovered, and yet there is not
the slightest cew where it originated or
how large quantity has been forced into
general circulation.
Chief Brooks, of the secret service, said
to-day about this coin: " 1t is the best
counterfeit ever made and the one that is
giving us the most trouble"
Mr.. Brooks then went on to relate how
this coin baffled an inventor who claimed
to have a scale that would prove to be an
infallibe detcctOr of counterfeit coins.
He had been before the finance committees
Of Congress, and had persuaded them to
approve the purchase of these scales in
great numbers to be used by the post
masters throughout the country The
scale was in the shape of a long. inclined
plane, with a weight at one end, and in
The upper part of the plane were Sits for
coins of various denominations. A genu-
inc coin inserted in the slit made for it
would bring up the weight. The average
counterfeit coin is light and would be
easily detected by the scale, but the in
vcntor claimed his scale was infallible.
He obtained Endorsements from the
treasurer and then came to the chief of
the secret service. He told him to bring
ont his best counterfeits and he would
show him how he could certainly expose
their character.
Mr.. Brooks brought out the counter
felt of the Bland silver dollar. The
inventor put it on the scale and the
weight few up promptly. The inventor
said: 81 did not call for genuine
coin. I want your best counterfeit
THAT is a counterfeit, and the best. .
The inventor turned very red. Then
he said. "Well, I guess we will have
to throw in bottle of acid with tho
scale"
Try it with the acid" said Mr..
Brooks.
This produced nothing. Then the
ready inventor said: "Well, will add
an oyster-knife to the bottle of acid
But this was making the infallible
detector too complicated. and so the jol
of selling several hundred thousands OF
these scales to the government fell to the
ground.
This coin counterfeit is the only one
that is seriously troubling the treasury
people. There is very little doing il
the counterfeiting of the paper currenc!
that appears upon the surface.
One countcrfeitcr of the paper issues O.
the government is very successful, how
ever as he has been at work for over
year and has not yet been caught II,
makes his notes with pen and skillfu
manipuatiOns of water-colors He con
fines himself to twcnties and fifties. Thc
whole lne-work upon the back and face
of the bills is made with fine steel pen
The signatures are superb and would en-
able this modest workman to bloom on
as a first class forger. The bills will no
bear close inspection, but their genera
appearance is equal to that of the genuine
When it is remembered that this is NJ
plate work, that can turn off numcrou
impressions, but work that must be re
peated in each detail for every bill, i
will be seen that the skillful penman vii
never get rich at this kind of work. Pen
men estimate that the most expert work
man could not make over two of thes
bills in week, so that the man canno
make at the outside more than $40 t.
800 week.
What the treasury people fear in tn
future is that their paper issues may b.
duplicated by the means employed by tn
photo-lithographers. 1t is possible witt
the aid of photo-lithography to duplicat
every line of the most skillful and irtri
cate of engraving. This fact was brough
to the attention of the department no
long ago.