The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1886-07-15
COUNTERFEIT COIN.
How Dies Are Prorur-a,l-->ome Now tties
In the Way of tIeta;iic Frauds.
N TrIaIrasn1

In the Way Of sIsta;iic Frauds.
n. Y. Telegram
A silver half-dol!ar was yesterday
shown to Mr.. J. F. Tandv. the coin ex-
pert of the Sub treasury, with the ques-
ton: ''Is that counterfeit:" It was
larger than the half-dOllar coins in cir
culation, thinner, felt much lighter, and
had peculiar ring unlike that of the
genuine coin. Mr.. Tandy, however, pro-
nounced it to be the coinage of the United
States Mint.
81 have one very much like it," he
said, and producing a little box filed
with various counterfeit gold and silver
coins, he picked out a half-dollar re-
sembling that shown him. when got
hold of this" he continued, II was puz-
zled to account for it's popularity. We
finally sent it to the Mint and asked them
to look at it. The Superintendent wrote
back that it was genuine coin, but that
it had been in the hands of counter
feiters.
''They had placed a piece of lead over
the coin and hammered it until a per-
feet impression was made in the softer
metal. In this process the half-dollar
was spread out to its present size
and was made correspondingly thinner
as you see. As to the oddness of its
ring, perhaps the hammering changed
the molecular construction of the metal,
causing it to vibrate differently when
rung. The difference in the size and thick
ness also would change it's sound"
The little box from which Mr.. Tandy
produced his half-dollar contains bad coins
detected at the sub Treasury from time to
time. There are counterfeits of various
characters and of various pieces, from
silver quarter to gold double eagle. The
bad pieces best calculated to deceive are
those in which genuine coin has been al
tered or tempered with, leaving the impress
sion of the die intact. Among them is
Mexican silver dollar, the face of which
was in some way sliced off, and the body
of the coin all dug out until nothing but a
shell remained. Into this a little cake OF
lead was nicely fitted to give it weight and
the thin disk of silver being replaced like
the lid on a backing box, the coin was
ready for circulation. The result of all this
work was only the value of the silver ex-
tracted from the coin, and, unless the
operator had fine machinery and drove a
trade in the wholesale line, it is difficult to
see how he made laborer's wages.
There are in the collection some
American silver dollars the edges of which
AINAS1OO bAdb a oCSP AuI1O" has USoD
plowed out in a lathe, the gutter thus made
being then filed up with white metal.
There are a number of out-and-out coun-
terfeit quarters and half-dollars, most of
them poor in appearance and very light in
weight. Some gold dollar pieces are better
made, and would be taken by most persons
without hesitation. The gem of the col
lection, however, is $40. gold piece which
it is difficult to believe is rot all it should
| be. This, Mr.. Tandy explains, has been
treated in the same manner as the Mexican
dollar already described. The impression
IN both sides is genuine, but the gold has
Oeen scoOped and its place filed with base
metal, This coin came over in a shipment
of double eagles from London. A number
like it were caught at one time or another.
On cutting them up it was found that the
shell contains So worth of gold. The opera
tors, therefore, got $14 out of every coin so
treated which they succeeded in passing.