The morning news., 1892-01-25
THE QUEER"
BOW SUB TIRE EAsURY AGENTS
TREAT COUNTERFEIT MONEY.

reporter was standing the Otner day IN
the rather dim and close-smelling room OF
the United States sub-treasury on Wall
street, in which citizens have their bills ex-
changed for gold or silver and from which
bankers draw the coin that makes foreign
trade possible, when a respectfully dressed
man approached one Of the paying tellers,
says the New York Nel0s.
II just want to know" he said, "if this
$40 bill is all right or only a counterfeitF
The clerk took the bill and retired with
it for a moment. He came back and with
out word handed the bill to the man.
Across its face was stamped the word
counterfeit The letters were cut out Of
the body of the bill, SO that no power could
again put it in circulation.
"What do you mean by doing thatF" de-
mauded the indignant citizen.
"Oh, you needn't get mad, remarked the
teller. ''The law Is imperative Every
bogus bill that comes here is treated in the
same fashion,
This wouldn't have happened had I taken
it to bank
"You should have thought of that before
you brought it here"
"This sort of thing" said the teller to the
reporter, as the man left looking rather
crest fallen, happens nearly every day in
the week, and sometimes it is funny TO see
how men take on when their bogus bills are
destroyed. They are respectable business
men, who have taken them in honest trade
and they think it is rather hard that they
should not have a chance Of getting them OFF
again on their unsuspecting ne ghbors.
on heard what he said about the banks7
Well, that's quite true. IL he had taken his
bill to the bank he would have been told
Ak "a -
been handed back to him intact if he was
known. By law the national banks are re-
quired to treat all counterfeit bills just as
they are treated at the United States sub
treasures. They don't do 1t, however, with
their big customers, because they fear it
would offend them and lead to a loss of busi-
ness.n
Very little counterfeit coin finds its way
to the sub-treasurY. 1t is seldom indeed
that stray bogus coin passes the watchful
eye of the receiving teller at bank. The
United States secret service detectives have
well nigh stamped out the 5usiness Of coun-
| terfeiting coin, and, although the counter
| feits which now and then find their way
into circulation are much better than those
Of twenty-five years ago, they are always
| faulty IN one OF three characteristics of the
genuine coin-thckness, diameter and
weight If they be Of the proper weight,
| they are either too thick or the diameter too
large, and a little, machine on the desk of
each receiving teller at the sub-treasurY
applies all three tests in half second.
When counterfeit gold or silver coin is
presented it is confscated and melted in the
| United States assay Office for old metal
Apart from the action which decides the
fate Of bad bills and bogus coins, there is
precedence at the sub-treasuTy which puZ-
zles the ordinary citizen. It is the refusal Of
the government to redeem its own gold coins
at their face value. except they be fresh
from the mint. while the most tattered Of $5
treasury bill is good for bright new mint
| IS gold piece.
All gold coins wear in proportion more than
silver. Ii you have a 800 gold piece an
| fancy that 1t is light, don't go to the sub
| treasury to find out, especially IL il seems
much worn. 1t will share the fate Of a
counterfeit bill in a mitigated form, as the
letter IL. - for light" will be punched on
its face and 1t will be fit only fer the melt
ing pot or to sell as old gold. One-haf per
cent of loss on the weight of the coin will
| insure it this fate without appeal. Every
bank suffers considerably in the course of a
| year from this rule of the sub.treasury.
| When bankers present gold at the su b-treasu-
| ry for the purchase Of certificates all coins
that show loss of l 4 per cent. in weight
are stamped and go to the melting-pot in
| the assay office, There is no charge to
|
the owners lose only its depreciation in
| weight.
An average Of about s4oO, 600 In light
weight gold coin is received annually in the
sub-treasury on Wall street. The loss on
| this coin, which averages from "a toll per
cent, falls on the banks, all Of which ac-
cept lightweight coins within those limits
rather than offend their customers, AS a
rule, all the large banks bold their light coins
until they amount to $4,000 in par value be-
| fore bringing them to the ub.treasury
The reason ASST gned for the refusal uf the
government to redeem its light gold coins
at their face value, instead Of making the
loss by depreciation fall on bankers and
citizens generally, is that to accept such
coins below weight would encourage
criminals to tamper with them, and give a
new impetus to the Sweating" process.
which has often more to do with the light
weight than ordinary wear and tear in cir
culation.
| The Sweating" process Is simple. re-
| quires little intelligence, subjects the opera
tor to the minimum risk of danger from
! detection, and returns a fair profit on an
| original investment of say $500 in $50 gold
| pieces.
The sweater" places a number Of $50
gold pieces in buckskin bag and shakes
| Them together long and violently The
friction detaches small particles of gold
from the coin; SO small that they leave no
| marks on the coin of the treatment TO which
it has been subjected. The coins are then
removed and individually have lost so little
| in weight thatit can only be detected by the
scales The bag is now boiled. which makes
the gold particles adhere to the buckskin.
| IL is then dried and burned and the ashes
are fused In cruclble and the gold recov-
cred.
| Another method of tampering with gold
coin, for which we are indebted to the Chi
nese, is to drill minute holes through the
milling and shake out the gold dust. This
method of criminaly depreciating coin re
quires expert manipulation, and is not by
any means as much in vogue as the sweat
| ing process.
Though bankers can have their light
weight gold coin melted and assayed free Of
charge, private individuals have not the
same privilege. They are charged 81 for
each deposit in the sub-t easury of less than
1000 ounces, and for over that amount, one
| tenth Of cent an ounce.
| The gold dollars Of the coming of 1S50-'51-
'52-'53-'59 and Of 1888 are very apt to be
light, and are bad things to bring TO the
sub-treasury. They are, however, curlosi-
ties more than anything else, especially
those coined in 1888, OF which the total issue
was only SS.543. Their principal use seems
| to be for bangles, cuff bottoms aud watch
charms. and brokers do large export trade
with them to Africa, where they are used as
ear pendants by the savage chiefs. They
are also exported to South America, where
they are used as studs, ornaments for ladies'
hats. and bV WEALTHY ttVauuerOa1 vask