Connecticut western news., 1886-12-01
CONTEMPLATING.
Making Spurious limitations
 of American Money.
The Marvellous Talent of Mysterious
 Pen and Ink Counter .teiter.

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 The counterfeiting at present is con- fined almost entirely to the coin issues of the Government, writes a Washington correspondent of the New York World. It is not generally known that the nickles and the pennies are very success fully counterfeited and that there is no possible means of detecting the spurious from the genuine. The nickle afford a very handsome profit. All the counter feiters have to do is to- go to the Revised Statutes and there they find the materials to be used in their making. All of the metal employed is base. A nickle costs the Government about one cent and quarter. If the Government had the exclusive manufacture of these coins there would be great profit in them. But the coin can be so easily reproduced that there is no means of estimating how many of them are put out of the counterfeit class. If the government should decide to call in this class of coin they would have to redeem the counterfeits as we'll, because they are all made of exactly the same material as the governments issue. The bronze pennies are also counterfeit | ed. There is profit in this. The bronze of which the pennies are made costs "A cents a pound. A pound will make 160 pennies. The only way this part of the currency can be detected would be for Congress to change the law so that. bullion to the value of the coin can be put in it. The nickels to-day | represent sort of fiat currency. They arc stamped by the government as five cents and they really represent only a cent and a quarter.
 One of the latest kinds of counterfeiting is the imitation of old coins for sale to the nu1nis- matists. One of the most ingenious modes of deception in this class of work is the changing of the dates of some common issue of certain coin to the date of a year whose issue is scarce and consequently high. The old liberty dollar of 1904 is very scarce. It is said that there are only seven genuine coins of this issue in this country. The coin is ra- ted in numismatic catalogues at a value of $fs0O and upwards. The counterfeitcrs have been quite successful in changing 1901 issues to that of 1904. This is not counterfeiting in the strict legal sense of the word, and the treasury officials would not be able to punish any one for this class of offense. But they have exer- cised their power to put stop to such work wherever they have found it going on.
 Another form of trouble met with by the treasury people in protecting the currency is in the various devices en- ployed by enterprising advertis- CTS. A number of advertisers will print fac-similes of coins or of the currency in their advertisements. Coin catalogues very often contains em- bossed reproductions of the coin adver- tised. When these are silvered or gilded they become dangerous. Their backs and fronts are often pasted together and passed in the evening upon ignorant peo- pie. Smaller coins of the silver embossed character arc constantly being slipped into the street car boxes where they cannot have close inspection, particular ly when they are slipped in during the evening. The Italians and the small fruit people are used for the purpose of working off all the small counterfeits.
 One of the most successful. counter feiters has batfled the treasury for over five years. He has adopted such an original role that thus far no trace of him has ever been reached. His name, even, is not known. A fairly good de- scription of him has been obtained, but beyond that the Secret Service Bureau has no positive information. This coun. terfeiter works alone. He has no appa. i IdIuS OCyOHet pCu aud t OottlC oA HIN, and having no accomplices, is not in any danger of being betrayed. His method of proceeding is very simple. He will take ten, a twenty, or a fifty of the greenback or national bank issue, and in the shortest possible time can make such successful copy of it in pen and ink as to defy de- lection from anybody but an expert witt a glass. saw fifty dollar note at the treasury made by him of the greenbacl issue. The general appearance of thi bill is perfect. The lines about all of th' portrait work VII bear the closest in spection under glass. The letter worl is absolutely correct and the signature
 miraculous reproductions. Even tn, treasury seal is faultless. The artist tha
 produces this class of work rarely if eve
 counterseits the same issue twice during the same period. It is therefore no
 possible to put bank people on thei 9 guard against him. He skips abou
 from issue to issue and, while he rarcl, s goes below $20, yet has condescended t' make ten dollar note. He is apparent, r always on the wing. His first note wa
 detected in New Orleans. Other issue have been found in Southern cities aons e the Mississippi river, and again they
 would be found in Chicago or the cx
 treme West. His counterfeiting cal