The daily Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1878-1???, 1884-06-26
WEIGHT, TOUCH AND RING.
Counterfciters that Have Secrets
Which the Jewellers Cannot
Discover,


That's no good" said the clerk, as
he showed l0-cent piece back across
the counter of Broadway restaurant.
"Yes it is" said the man, who
picked it up and again laid it down,
ringing it as he did so. on bet So
on il.
81 don't want to bet with you,n said
the man, who had not even touched tho
coin, glancing toward q Mail and En-
press reporter, "but | will if you insist.
It's a glass counterfeit, and | don't
know what's in it besides glass, but |
can prove it to you that it's no good
without it's costing you q IS bill. Do
you mind risking the l0-cent piece on
tho testP"
No." said the customer.
The man behind the counter picked
the token up, laid one edge of it on
the counter, holding his thumb and
forefinger on the other, and with n
quick pressure broke it in two in n
nearly straight line, which left about
two even halves. The man looked on
in stupid establishment, and picked up
one of the pieces. The broken edge
did not look like glass, but its texture
showed readily that it was friable, and
not malleable.
"Now I'll show you," said the man,
rs he picked up little hammer aud
gave the half lying on the counter q
couple of quick cracks. 1t was pull
verified as if it had been hammered in
amortar, and showed only bits of brittle,
broken substances, .glass-like in all re.
spects except color. The particles were q
dead lead color, and the still unbroken
half showed date of 1856, indicating
that tho counterfeitGrs had, on account
of its dead color, decided to take an old
instead OF recent date.
These coins have been made to WEIGH
and ring so like silver that it is impos-
sible TO tell to what extent they have
been circulated, and doubtless many
have passed through many hands with
out having created any suspicion.
Marker Brothers, who handle enor-
nous quantities of silver of all sorts,
said they had seen two samples. The
coins are made in all grades, and tho
two they saw were both standard dol
lars. One OF the brokers was trailing
fistful of dollars from his right hand
to his left, when his eye caught the
milled edge of the coin, which looked
thicker than its predecessors and sue
cessors. Picking it out he found that
the milling was not quite so distinct as
1t should be, and the coin had dead
look, but answered correctly to the
touch. He threw it out and refused to
take it, returning it to his customer.
A few days afterward man came in
with similar coin, only that it was
already broken in two pieces, which
fell apart as the stack of coin rippled
over his tinger-ends. The edges look
ed like those Of lump of mica, or
sheeted isinglass as they are found by
geological field hunters. That there
was glass in it he could only guess,
and has never met anyone who could
suggest method by which base metal
could be combined with glass so as to
give true weight and the right ring.
The glass is evidently intended tomake
the ring correct and yet it must be
thoroughly mixed with the metal or it
could not be broken with the pressure
Of thumb.
Glow do you detect counterfeit coin,
Mr.. MarkenP"
"Ah! that can't tell you; | don't
know" The pile of dollars, thirty
high, trickled down his hand and were
lodged in even piles in the corner of n
tray as he remarked: "And ! can't tell
you how | count them, but you see
they all come out In $225 stacks. I'll
wager that don't miss bad coin, but
how, l don't know. Weight, and
touch, and ring have all to do with it,
and a quick eye assists. AS these dol
lars slide from one hand to the other
the eye takes in the milled edges and
thickness of the coin; my fingers tell
me whether there is something lost or
addod in weight, and also whether
mere Is smoother, salvy, sur
race, which does not mean silver. As
ane CONS run together get the ring so
perfectly that il one coin is not like
another my ear tells me at once and
80 surely that, fast as they run. / can
PICK up the exact coin in n second
lou see it can be only matter of ex-
PeTience and training. It's much like
chiid playing jacks, one will catch
every pebble and the other won't
40 not Tor a moment pretend to know
how these glass counterfeits are made
or now they can be made to weigh and
ring. but the thing ! do know is the
touch and ring of genuine silver. Moth
ing else has the same touch or tho
same ring, and on that can not be de-
ceived.
MY fingers tell more than my eyes
DO. but the eye will measure the thick.
ness and milled edge of coin as fast