The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1885-07-03
Oounterfeiting Money.

this has been carried on quite extern
s'vely in different parts of New Eng
land, and in number of instances The
principals have been arrested with all
their paraphernalia, convicted and SEN
fenced to penal institutions for various
periods. Thinking that the general
public would be interested in knowing
how some of the "queer' is coined and
circulated, Traveller representative
started out with that end in view, and
had the good fortune to fall in with a
government official connected with the
Secret Service Department, who has
had many years experience in appre-
bending counterfeiters. When the wri.
ter announced his mission the official
readily gave his consen. TO be inter.
viewed, and said
"Counterfeiting is practced more
extensively than is generally known.
In my official capacity my work has
been almost entirely confined TO un-
earthing coun,erfeiting places 1t is
almost impossible for me TO say to
what extent paper money is counter
feited Strange as it may seem, but
one counterfeit S20 gold piece has ever
been discovered, and that was dated
1860. II was made as follows
A genuine double eagle was sawed
in two, one side being left thicker than
the other. AS much gold as possible
was then scooped out of the thick side,
and mixture Of platinum and some
other metal substituted TO bring it up
to the standard weight. 1t is what is
known as a filled coin, and is worth
from 81 to Ss. A $40 gold piece filled
in the Same way is worth from So to
$3.50. There are quite number of
$40 counterfeits The dates of those
filled or counterfeited are 1S41-47-49-
55-6l-75-79 and 80 The one con-
sidered the most dangerous is dated
lS47. The first counterfeit half-eagle,
or tive-dollar gold piece, that the Sc
cret Service discovered was in 1850,
and no less than twenty-five have ap-
peared since then, some of them being
absolutely worthless, while others are
worth from S2.70 to S4.63 each. The
ly.executed counterfeits known. Gold
pieces are not counterfeited so much as
silver coins, for the reason that gold
counterfeit coins are made from dies
and not cast. The manufacturers of
the queer must buy the gold, which re
quires of course considerable capital,
and the machinery is not only expen-
sive but of such large proportions as to
tender it liable to detection. In manu-
featuring counterfeit silver dollars,
most ingenious mechanics can do that
after little experience. The recent
capture and conviction of a gang OF
counterfeiters in New Hampshire illus.
trates how few things are required in
coming the queer.
The articles found in the house
where the counterfeiters made their
spurious money, were plaster of paris
molds of genuine coin, britannia, block
tin, lead and silver wash. The men
engaged in manufacturing these coun-
terfeit silver pieces stole the lead pipe
and bought in the nei ghborhood old
britannia teapots, from which they got
their metal, and the block tin they pur.
chased in Boston. The writer was
permitted to examine twenty or twen-
ty-fve of these moulds and dies fol
manufacturing different coins of the
United States, and they were found to
be fine pieces of workmanship. Dur
ing the past year rev counterfeit silver
pieces were discovered almost every
other month. In leather bag were
about POO or 800 silver dollars in the
rough, that is, before they had beer
finished up ard made ready for the
market. They were made in England
A number of others that had been fin.
ished, were shown, and it was almost
impossible to distinguish the differenc,
between the genuine and the spuriou.
coin, so finely were the latter finished
They are detected by their general ap
pearance and their weight. The weight
test is the most accurate and reliable
especially with gold coin. The Treas
ury has set maximum and minimum
weights, which distinguish the weigh
of all coins. For example, the maxi
mum of twenty-dollar gold piece il
SIG grains and the minimum 5l3.4:
grains. The difference is exactly one
half of per cent, the amount allowed
by law.
A great deal of coin becomes lgh
from natural causes, and when the,
come into the hands of the Netiona
Treasury they are sent to the Mint ant
recoined, the government bearing tn,
loss. As general thing nothing small
Ter than a $40 gold piece is ever filed
though the smaller coins are plugged
which is, perhaps the most common.
new process, however, has taken tn,
place of plugging, to great extent
and is called sweating" Some pho
tographers are credited with doing thi
kind of thing. The modus operaud
of this new process is to take numb
of gold or silver pieces and suspend
them in some acid for few moment
and then withdraw them. BY usin,
fresh coin a considerable quantity O
metal is obtained without reducing tn
weight of the piece to any great extent
and they are then passed off again o.
the public. Sometimes as much as fl
ty cents in value is taken from s
| gold piece, and as much as eight
cents has been known to have beel
taken from double eagle. Anothe
way of tampering with double eagle
is to remove their rough edges and re
mill them, Between fifty and eight
cents can be obtained in this way fror
a single coin. and the difference is nc
perceptible to the naked eye. Silve
coin that is less than the minimum
weight is rejected by the Treasury of
fcials, and the owners are obliged /
pass them If they can, or sell them 70
bullion. Some INSCRIPTIONS broker
buy them for shipment TO Canad,
where maximum and minimum weight
are not considered, and they pass ther
for their face value. The government
however, has stopped this to certai
extent by stamping on the face @
such the word light. The silver dolla
is called the vagabond of all coins, a
it is tampered with and counterfeite
80 much. Silver coin will not perm