National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1886-02-24
COMMERCIAL couxrEnpErrISa


u AANnuANEIuflnK
Coin as IL Is and May be Carried On.
"This means business" said Chief Brooks,
Of the secret service division, last evening.
"Tle counterfeiter has become an econo-
mist lie is studying bullion values Of
coin. lie is operating on q narrow and
strictly business margin profit. Here is a
ntw finger post Of danger"
So speaking he tapped the 'post's"
record meditatiyely with bis forednger.
What was the ''post?n A 50 gold piece,
coinage Of 1881, composed of
Gold value ,.......,,....... SLAB
'oo5i19
Ilatlnum. '...,,,...,,....,......... .g3!9
'.....''.''s 'lOl
% Value. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. ......,. Sl.l14
This particular post was discovered by A.
j. Hastings, acting assistant treasurer, Bos-
ton, Mass, aud Chief Brooks was ut once
notified.
~ can't tell vet he continued, show
this coin was made. IL may have been
struck from an alloy planchette; 1t
may have been cast in q plaster mould; It
may have been split and filled. But the
fact Of its introduction is most significant.
II an operation Of this kind is attempted
upon ten per cent. margin of gold value,
why not. upon a twenty one per cent.
Is greater and the chances of detection far
less, for the counterfeiters could use the
exact proportion Of the government silver
standard dollar alloy aud make large
manufacturers pro6tn
"Would the counterfeiters in this couu-
try, as class, be content with this margin,
Mr.. BrooksY
"well, no, l don't think they would
now,n he replied. "They are not educated
up to this point yet. But though the scum
of the earth morally, they are not slow to
learn how to make money successfully. IL
the hint has not yet been given them dl-
rectly from abroad, | am inclined to think
{ soon will be.n
"You must not suppose he continued,
THAT counterfeiting can be carried on
readily, cheaply, and safely in country of
magnificent distances like this, and particu-
laily at its remote outposts-a frontier
mining camp for example. There bullion
is at hand, II is true; there purchases of
alloys could be made without exciting sus-
picion; but for all that you could hardly
select a worse place to carry on such an
industry. Why, a man can't buy pair Of
new boots there, or change his shirt twice
n week without uncorking a viol OF sus-
picious comment A little extra lourging
over bar, or few new dollar pieces
shown by chance will give a man dead
away In the opinion of his envious neigh
bors. All, did you drop to Nike some
one will say; seems to me he's putting on
a lot of frills. Look at that new hat, and
somebody told me he has been painting
that old cabin Of his. Guess he's been
showing the queer
"This sort of talk draws the eyes OF
everybody TO Mike, and II he is really doing
any shady business II soon comes to the
notice of our service and Mike is gobbled.
No, sir; counterfeiting is really one Of the
fine arts, and these only flourish in large
cities. Men do some fine work here, but
they lack the requisite patience, thrift, and
experience as rule. For exact duplicates
OF our silver coin, we must look abroad.
If Belgium, France, and Germany have not
sent such counterfeits over yet the chances
are that they soon will.n
"What kinds Of counterfeit coin are now
coming over Of which you have positive
Rnowledge9'
"Well, sir,n said the chief, "there are the
fire gilt pieces, spiel.marks, as they are
called, which are passed of for genuine
twenty, ten, and five dollar coins upon raw
emigrants in foreign seaports and our own
ports. These 'spiet.marks' are sometimes
carried far inland, and ignorantly exchanged
or offered in payment for goods. These are
clumsy limitations, but counterfelters are
drawing nearer the real thing in their imi.
tations OF our nickel and bronze coins. You
see our bronze penny is only worth intrinsi-
cally one-ffth OF cent, and the nickel five
cent piece only one and one-quarter cents.
Hereis big margin Of profit in successful
limitations, using the standard government
alloy. Nobody knows how many millions
Of our hundred million stock of nickels
may be SPURIOUS and we do know that the
Germans are beginning to manufacture cop.
per-token coins resembling ours on one
side, and bearing some inscription on the
other. Considerable quantities of this token
nj De INF M nfrp md f,,N ctnfY
from hand to hand, If the Indian head is
kept uppermost with apparent careless.
ness, the Teutonic token will readily be
mistaken for the Yankee cent"