Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1885-12-05
MAKING SPURIOUS COIN.
How Counterfeiters Defraud
the Government.
The Extent to Which the Business is
Carried on in This Country.

II Carrled on IN Ihls Country.
The extent TO which counterfeiting
is carried on will probably never be
known to certainty, but that it is
one OF the greatest dangers to which
the public is exposed as far as swind-
ling schemes are concerned there gan
be no doubt Even the severe penal
ty and the vigilant work Of the Secret
Service Department of the government
has failed to wipe ont this evil, as is
evident every now and then when a
new arrest is made, and the machine
~ of the counterfeiters captured. An
officer Of the Secret Service is authori-
ty for the statement that counterfeit
ing is more extensively practiced than
is generally believed Paper money
us inflated SO closely that experts
sometimes fail to notice the lmposi
.tion, ard coin of every description is
counterfeited. 1t is singular that but
one counterfeit $40 gold piece has ever
been discovered, and this bears the
date 1850. In making this genuine
double eagle was split, one side being
left thicker than the other. AS much
gold AS possible was then NscooLe ed out
of the thick side, and mixture of
platinum and some other nfetal sub
stituted to bring it up to the standard
weight 1t is what is known as a
''tilled coin" and is worth from s. to
-. A SO gold piece filled in the
same way is worth from So to 81 50.
There are quite number of SO coun-
terfeits. The dates of these filled or
| cOunterfeitS are 1S41-47 40 80 61-15
20 and 80. The one considered the
most dangerous is dated lS47. The
first counterfeit half-eagIe. or s. gold
piece that the secret service discover
ed was issued in 1850, and no less
than twenty two have appeared since
then, some of these being absolutely
/ worthless, while others are worth
| from $2.7 to $4.63 each. The ones
dated 1882 are the most skillfully exc
1 cuted counterfeits known. Gold
! pieces are not counterfeited so much
as silver coin, for the reason that gold
counterfeit coins are made from dies
and not cast. The manufacturers of
the queer" must buy the gold, which
requires, Of course, considerable capi-
tai, and the machinery is not only ex-
pensive, but of such large proportions
as to make it liable to detection. In
manufacturing counterfeit silver dol
lars almost any ingenious mechanic
can do it after little experience The
machinery required is very simple, be
ing only plaster of paris molds, genu-
inc coin, brittania, block tin, lead, and
silver wash. The spurious coins are
hard to detect. The weight test is the
most accurate and reliable, especially
with gold coin. The Treasury De
partment has set of maximum and
minimum weights, which distinguish
the weights of all coins. For example
the maximum of $50 gold piece i:
516 grains and the minimum 5l34 4.
grains. The difference is exactlN on
half of per cent, the amount allow
ed by law.
A great deal of coin becomes lgh
from natural causes and when the,
come into the hands of the nationa
Treasury they are sent to the mint ano
recon6d the government bearing tn
loss. As general thing nothin!
smaller than so gold piece is eve
filled, though the smaller coins AT
plugged, which is perhaps the mos
common. \ new process. however
has taken the place of plugging to
great extent. and is called sweating.
Some photographers are credited Wit
doing this kind Of thing The modu
oPern"f Of this new process is TO tax
number Of gold or. silver pieces an,
SUSPEND them in some acid for fey
moments, and then withdraw them
, By using fresh coins considerabl
quantity of metal is obtained vithou
reducing the weight of the pieces t
any great extent. and they are the,
passed of again OF the public some
tunes as much as fifty cents m valu
, IS taken from e gold piece, and z
much As eighty cents has been know
TO have been taken from doubl
eagle. Another way of tamperin
with double eagles is 70 remove tnei
: rough edges and remill them. B'
!. tween fifty and eighty cents can /
obtained in this way from a sing
$ coin and the difference is not percep
.ble 10 the naked eye Silver cOi