Evening journal., 1889-02-18
BOGUS MONEY MAKERS.
HOW COUNTERFEIT COINS ARE
MADE AND CIRCULATED.

Dimes, Quarters and Dollars That Giisteu
and Ring-The Severe Penalties Pre-.
scribed by Law-ItaIians Predominant
AS showers OF the Queer"
Complaints are daily lodged In The Journal
office about counterfeit money that is being
ers are the loudest in their lamentations.
Dimes, quarters and silver dollars are the
coins with which they are chiefly victimized.
In many instances correspondents inclose
the bogus money for The Journals inspec-
ton. One Of these coins--a cleverly counter
feited 10 cent piece was taken by a reporter
TO the assay office.
"That's an excellent example Of the style
Of money in circulation just now said an
employee, swapping the dime in two. TITS
made Of lead, anthony and glass. The anti
mony produces that brilliant appearance,
while the glass helps to harden the lead and
to give It a resonant qualityn
what is the processr
now IT Is DONE.
1.-THE counterfeiter-who in nine cases ont
Of ten is an Italian-takes plaster cast Of
a coin and from this cast makes a mold
Then glass is poured into a crucible and
melted. While II IS in molten condition
lead is dropped in and as soon as these two
ingredients assimilate anthony is added.
The compound is run into the mold and a
spurious coin is the result Before being
foisted on the market it has to be subjected
to a finishing process In the first place, all
irregularities on the edges are adjusted. The
coin is then put into bag of sand and shaken.
This removes any undue sharpness Of outline.
II the result is not considered perfect the
counterfeiter resorts to the potato" process
that is to say, he sticks the coin into raw
potato and leaves it there for several days.
Those shiny, slippery peculiarities noticeable
on all spurious money are removed by potato
juice"
According to the assay office there are more
bogus dimes than dollars in circulation.
Dimes do not excite suspicion so much as dol
lars. Day after day street car conductors
are victimized by the bogus dime.
A counterfeit silver dollar is very easy to
detect. Although it may deceive the eye,
the hand and the ear, close inspection Of its
lettering win prove it to be false The reason
is that the making of a mold from plaster
cast results in blurring the inscription. For
eigners suffer most from the bogus dollar.
Small hotels and emigrant lodging houses
are favorite stamping grounds for the coun-
terfeiter and his accomplices. Since the
comparative curtailment Of the bobtail car
nuisance the manufacture Of bad nickels has
perceptibly declined.
United States Commissioner Shields re-
ceived The Journal man with characteristic
urbanity and told him all he knew.
us counterfeiting on the increasegn
Not in this district"
What is the punishment for counterfeit
ersp'
Imprisonment at hard labor for fifteen
years and $1,000 fine for bills, and ten years
with 5000 for gold and silver. A nickel
coiner gets three years and fine Of $1,000"
From what class is the counterfeiter gen
orally recruitedT
Our records show that in nine cases out Of
ten the accused is an Italian or has got his
supplies from an Italian, and most Of these
Italians come from the island Of Sicily.n
DIFFICULTY OF TRACING.
IL is no easy matter to trace counterfeit
money TO its source, and no one has explained
the difficulties to be contended with more
lucidly than the late chief Of police, George
w. Walling, in his memoirs In the first
place, he says, It Is necessary to discover
whether the circulation Of spurious coin is
restricted to one locality. The coin or bill
may pass through great many hands before
It's spurious character Is discovered, and even
then no one is quite willing 70 bear the loss,
and 50 tries to pass it on. This is human
nature
Then again, a man may take counterfeit
'oin from customer who has received it in
good faith, and who has perhaps handled
arge amounts Of money. The customer, Of
'ourse, If the character Of the coin is pointed
tut win probably insist that the coin given
$ genuine Long and tedious research is
to find out how innocent each man
$ in these transactions, and who may or may
Tot DO the counterfeiter. OF course the one
Who first passed the false coin uses every pre-
,aution to conceal his identity.
1t is estimated that more spurious money
'irculates in Europe than in America The
,est plates for the manufacture Of five dollar
bills seized by the secret service officers have
been engraved in Paris.
Perhaps the most impudent fraud that
'omes under the head Of counterfeiting was
detected in England two years ago. BY way
II helping to commemorate the queens iubi-
&c the English government issued 1000, 900
pecially designed shillings The reverse Of
he coin resembled a sovereign. A syndicate
i enterprising fakirs got hold Of 100000 Of |
hese shillings, bronzed them over and circu-
ated them as sovereigns As result the |
government had TO call in the jubilee coin,
md It Is now being bought BY collectors at a |
lremium- New York Journal
Spoil Your Wives.
] have been married for more than twenty
ears, and can truly say that it has been the
lappiest part Of my life. My husband, like