Idaho news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1887-1891, 1888-11-03
COUNTERFEIT coins.
An Interview with AN Expert New Yori
Money Handler.

Dickerman. AN eN.Irc0sury em,~3ge, hu,
now publisher Of the UHdcd States Treasury
CUURterfen Detsc;Or,
Most people, continued Mr. DECKER
man. lido not pay the same attention to
small coins as thes pay to bank notes II
the bogus com LOOKS all right it is talten
without any examination, Then, Rglin,
spurious coins are made more easily than
Lotes. Besides requiring large amount Of
skill, il takes even a good engraver live OF
six months tC finish the plates OF bank
note, But molds Of various Xmas car be
made within week on two ut very little
expense Most of the counterfeit silver Is
made from molds. The most dangerous
ccuEterfeits are those struck from die
but these are mostly among tho bogus gola
coins.
Il will Snow you the best samples Of
queer gold AMI silver coins, Now, strange
to say, there is no iirst-cate counterfeit Of
the double eagle. There is fair coulter.
felt of the eagle, beariug date 1875, IL has
a very fine APPEARANCE. but, as you see
here, when the gold-pllting is worn of It
leaves the white metal underneath exposed
OF the 50 gold-pieca there arc sew,
erai very dangerous CouuterfeIts. The 1871
counterfeit was assayed anu found to con.
tain 81 81 worth Of gold Consequently il
resisteu acid test about as well as the gcu
uine. Perhaps the most dangerous coun
terieit % gold-piece is the enc dated 1881
and lSS2. This counterfeit coin falied t.
pass the sharl eyes of John II Vassar, Of
the Boston sub Treasury II was sent 10
the United States H.lnt, and there analysed
Its ASSAY vulLe is Si.43 The rcediug and
miGrns are exceedingly wen done Most Of
Inc com c9unterfeits are made in molds,
but this one was, without doubt, strucS
from die prepared from what is known as
the drop process.
There ere "a great number of very clever
counterfCIrs Of the Guarter-eagle, or s.. 80
piece TIC one bearing the lS53 date is the
mos dangerous II contains only q cents
worth o. gold and yet rs size and weight
are correct The best acid tests have failed
to reveal is bogus nature. Toe other Couu
terfe!ts are mostly composeI Of Erass or
platinum, and then heavily god plated
What are some Of the best counierfe.ts
OF silver money!
Here. Tor example, is trade dolla,
dated 1874, having mint marks 5 and G. c.
II is only 3 grains lighter than the genuine
com. It's composition is silver. mercury
and German silver. The very best way To
detect these counterfeits is by the ring.
good ear will detect the sound at once.
'Thcu, again, there is the Bland or stand
ard dollar, EE5t coined in 1873. number
Of clever counterleits OF this coin have cone
into my possession, which, although made
in mold, have fine general appearance
They all come nearly up TO full weight
averaging from $50 to 40 grains They are
composed of anthony and lead, and plated
heavily with silver. The ring is almost the
same IS the genuine.
Listen TO this keen, sharp ring" said
Mr.. Dickerman, as he threw down a silver
half dollar. Doesn't that sound as il il
contained glass! Well that is counter.
felt OF 1876 This coin is nearly fun weight
and size. But the milling and reeding, and
especially the lettering Of the word lib
erty' en- the shield of the goddess, are some
wnat defective.
"Of small coins there are more queer
nickcls than any other kind All the COun.
terfeieer has to do is to read the act OF 1886
TO lind the composition Of alloy, and then ne
can strike of coins Of the same metal as
the genuine nickels at profit Of three and
three quarter cents each. Those bearing
the date Of 1870 are well calculated TO dc
ceivc, although the lettering in the words
United States is imperfect and the stars
surrounding the figure five are not well
done.
4uC hGFLCSo AoSu 70 IldkC L1e5e SuldlI
coins are often exceedingly ingenious Last
year the chief Of the secret service cap
tured mOuey-maling machine that turned
out nickcls almost as fast az nail machine
turns on. nails II would seem as il every
one engaged in the queer business had
different way Of fixing their stamps and
making their composition"
. Is there any other way Of making coins
queer besides using dies or molds.''
- Yes, there are several ways Of doctor
ing coins. The most common process IS
plugging This is done by boring holes in
the coin, extracting the gold, and then fill.
ing in the cavity with cheaper metal. Ouly
the larger gold coins are used for this pur-
pose The holes are bored into the coin
from the EDGE or reeding, and afteryarti
covered with gold. The reeding is then re-
touched, where It has been removed, by a
file or machine for this purpose A coin
thai has been plugged is well calculated TO
pass the sharpcst eye, as it has perfect
appearance only the edge showing the least
sign Of long queer
Another process is called .s@eating.
This i Goue by removing portion Of the
gold from the surface Of tine con- hy an acid
bath The reduction in value Of such coins
is from Onctcnth to one fifteenth OF
course. the coin subjected to such Il process
has fair appearance, the weight only beng
short
''There is still another process, called 1fll.
ing. This is often done by saving the co.,
through the edge or receding. removing the /
interior, and putting in cheaper metal
Filling ia also done by saving the coin
partly in two from the edge or reediug. on
one side, leaving a thin and thick portion
The thin sidcof the coin Is turned back. and
the gold tIifcn out from the thicker side.
The cavity IS filed with q cheap substitute,
and the sides pressed back aud brazed to 7
gethcr. Thus the coin may lose over one. I
half Of its value, and still present a good I
appearance Platinum 10 mostly used Ia 4
replace the gold extracted, both being Of 4
the same weight. When other and less I
costly tiiliug' than platinum is used. the .
bogus coin VIII be light weight, and will /
usually have a bad ring.
1T IS surprising" said Mr. DickerrDan in
conclusion, how many Italians are engaged I
in passing the queer The chief of the &C.
crct service told me short time ago that in
mailing his replies for the annual report he
found they outnumbercd all the other
classes. They arc not clever countcrfeiters.
They make, usually, only small COINS. aud
try to pass them off on some newly-arriyed T
n ffsa 9