The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1884-06-18
ABOUT ,COUNTERFEITS.
ToLp BY WEIGHT. TOUCH AND RINo.
Tho Odd Jingle Of the Newest Counter
terfeits -Rascally Coins -Counterfeiters
VINO Have Secrets Which Experts 70
Can Not Discover. saf tS
IN. Y. Mail and Express.l


showed a ten-cent piece. back across the
counter Of Broadway restaurant.
eyes It is,D said the man who picked Il
up and again laid 1t down, ringing 1t as he
didso. "I'll bet five dollars on it."
VI don't want to bet with you," said the
man, who had not even touched the coin,
glancing toward reporter, "but will II
you insist. It's glass counterfeit, and ]
don't know what's in it besides glass, but ]
can prove 1t to you that it's no good with,
out it's costing you five dollar bill. Do
you mind risking the ten.cent piece on the
testW "
'No," said tho customer.
The man behind the counter picked the
token up, laid one edge of 1t on the coun,
ter, holding his thumb and forehnger on
the other, and with quick pressure broke
IL in two in nearly straight line, which
left about two even halves. The man
looked on In stupid astonishment 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.
A"Now. pll show you," said the man, as
he picked up little hammer and gave the
half lying on the countera couple Of quick
cracks. 1t was pulverized as IL It had
been hammered In q mortar, and showed
only bits Of brittle broken substances,
glass-like in all respects except color. The
particles were dead lead color, and the
still unbroken half showed dateof 1855,
indicating that the counterfeiters had, on
account Of its color, decided to take an
old instead Of q recent date.
These coins have been made TO weigh
and ring 80 like silver that 1t is impossi-
BILE to tell to what extent they have been
circulated, and doubtless many have
passed through many hands without hav-
ing created any suspicion. Markem
Brothers, who handle enormous quantities
of silver Of all sorts, said they had seen
two samples. The coins are made in all
grades, and thetwo they saw were both
standard dollars. 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 thick.
or than Its predecessors and successors.
Picking 1t out he found that the milling
was not quite so distinct as it should be
and the coin had O dead look, but
answered correctly TO the touch.
He threw 1t out and refused
to take 1t, returning it to his
customer. A few days .afterward man
came in with similar coin, only that IL
was already broken in two pieces, which
fell apart as the stack Of coin rippled over
his finger ends. The edges looked like
those Of lump Of mica or sheeted isin.
glass, as they are found by geological field
hunters. That there was glass in it he
could only guess, and has never met any
one 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 to
make the ring correct, and yet 1t must be
thoroughly mixed with the metal, or it
could not be broken with the pressure Of
thumb.
"How do you detect counterfeit coin,
Mr.. Markemw
"Ahl that l can't tell you; / don's
know" The pile of dollars, thirty high,
trickled down his hand and were lodged in
even piles in the corner Of the tray as he
remarked, "and 1 can't tell you how l
count them, but you see they all come out
In twenty-five dollar stacks. I'll wager
that don't miss bad coin, but how, |
don't know. Weight and touch and ring
have all TO do with 1t, and a quick eye as
sists. As these dollars slide from one
hand 10 the other the eye takes in the
milled edges Of the coin; my fingers tell
m. whether there Is something lost or adj
ded in weight, and also whether there is a
smoother, salvy surface, which does not
mean silver. As the coins run together
get the ring so perfectly that IL one coin Is
MT like another my ear tells 1t at onco
and so surely that, fast as they run, l can
pick up tho exact coin in n second. You
see IL can be only a matter OF experience
and training. It's like child playing
jacks, one will catch every pebble and an
other won't. l do not for a moment pre-
tend to know how these glass counterfeits
are made or how they can be made 70
weigh and ring, but the thing do know is
tho touch and ring OF genuine silver Moth
ing else has tho same touch or the same
ring, and on that can not be deceived.
any fingers tell me more than my eyes
do, but the eye will measure the thickness,
and the millod edge Of coin rs fast as
they can fall when the eye Is trained &c
that business. II is the same with postagc
and internal revenue stamps. We can moi
be deceived by them. Outsiders and
strangers make the mistake Of looking for
counterfeits. We never do that. We know
the genuine and look for it, and when tho
symptoms are against i. we don't take It.
We hunt for good coin; other people hum
for bad"
A reporter visited various silver and
glass men in the city in tho hope Of find
ing out what were tho characteristics oi
the combination by which glass could be
mixed with base metals Ho did not sue.
coed. The secrets OF the counterfeiters
are not known TO the snelters, nor are
they 10 the glass-workers, and neither can
understand how there can be an amalgam
or a fusing. The bad metal, according To
that, must DO some comparatively new dis.
covery. Glass weighs only one..enth tina.
Of silver, and no base metals approach
the weight OF silver, so that all arc puz-
gled.
Doesn't Like tho Word.