The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1892-04-11
GOLD COIN SWEATING.
An Art in which John Chinaman is Ex-
pert.
IN. Y. Evening Post.)


Several large banks in this city, which
DO business with California, have been
troubled of late at the many lightweight
$50 gold pieces which are found in
almost every shipment of gold that comes
from that State. At first it was thought
that the friction Of the coins against each
other during the railway or steamship
journey caused the loss of weight, but
soon various suspicious features were
noticed which make it all but certain
that the coins are subjected to a ''sweat-
ing'' process by electricity, which will
extract as much as Is cents or 81 from
each $40 gold piece. without materially
affecting the face of the coin. The ex-
perts at the United States treasury office
have seen SO many such lightweight
coin during the last few weeks that they
can now tell one almost Immediately
without going to the trouble of weighing
1t. A representative of the Evening Post
examined several such 500 gold pieces
that had come to the Office of thinner
man & Forsyth at No. ii Wall street.
BY examining them under a magnifying
glass, one could see that the face of the
coin had become somewhat blurred by
number of infinitesimal pores which COW
cred the whole face, while the edges
were rounded or beveled as though by
wear. At the same time, however, the
coins were SO bright that they looked
like new. 1t was also noticed that spe-
cial care had been taken by the Ssweat-
II II of
tempered with dating further back than
1901.
1t is believed that this fraud is being
practiced on a large scale in California,
probably by the Chinese, who have the
reputation of being the cleverest counter
feiters. In recent shipment of $4,000
to one of the largest banks of the city,
which does business with California,
there were no less than 40 such under
weight gold pieces. These coins are, of
course, thrown out by the treasury, dis
figured by a large and conspicuous L, for
no more than one-half of l per cent light
weight is ever allowed in coin. Moth
ing remains, then, but to send them over
to the assayer's Office to be turned into
bullion, or to sell them to the various
small brokers who handle such coin.
One dollar taken out of each 500 piece
means ROoQ pfOuI 10 De gained Dy Une
simple process of suspending the coins
for a short time in an acid fluid charged
with electricity. The sweaters natu-
rally prefer to do this to larger gold
pieces because more can be gained from
each coin, and because most persons, es-
pecially in the Eastern States, are less
familiar with those particular coins, and
therefore less able to detect the fraud by
the mere look and touch of the gold
piece.
The government is powerless, because
in itself the practice of subjecting gold
piece to electrolysis, be it for gliding pur-
poses or otherwise is not ia, legal s otfesnse,
sweaters were caught in their work
shop, it would be difficult to indict them.
The legal offense is only committed by
the man who passes the coin, and even
then the intention of fraud has to be
proved. Nothing can be done therefore.
In the meanwhile the under-weight
double eagles keep pouring in, to be re
turned again by the treasury with the de-
facing L stamped on them.