Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-12-02

SA> ivy sucb ART az almost
to defy scrutiny, lacking a magnifying
glass. They Will pass anywhere short of
bank. Some of them are produced by
FASTING over the UNCONVENTIONAL numbers
other figures cut out of internal revenue
stamps. with no attempt to change the
value of the piece of money as expressed
in words on the face and back of 1t. But
these are comparatively crude. The formid-
able forgeries of this kind are turned out by
experts who transform both words and
figures by methods SO skillful as to COM
mand admiration.
At the office of the secret service yester-
day Chief Drummond exhibited what look
ed so much like $40 silver certificate that
not one man in a thousand would hesitate
to accept it. Nevertheless, IL was in reali-
ty only 81 expertly altered. The big figure
indicating the denomination was in each
case replaced by an y taken from a real
ten-dollar bill That is to say. the numeral,
together with the oval bit of lathe-engrav-
ing containing it, was cut out of a certifi-
cate for $40 and so artfully inlaid in the
PAPER of the one-dollar greenback as to leave
no traces Of the operation visible to the
naked eye. OF course. the ten-dollar bills
thus mutilated could easily be treated so
as to disguise the purpose Of the mutilation
and then sent to the treasury at Washing
ton for redemption.
In this simple manner plenty OF Uncle
Sans engraving could lie utilized without
expense for patchwork. The words lone Dol
lar on the face of the bill described were al
tered by putting TENN the place Of "One,"
the spot where the IS" ought to go at the
end of the dollar being so defaced by
scratching with a sharp knife as to make
it look IL the So had been rubbed off by
some accident Along the edges Of the GER
titicate and particularly in the corners the
ink was carefully smeared in such a man.
ner as to render the wording of the denomi-
nation Neutrality-suspicious.. All this must
have required good deal of labor, but it
represented a clear gain of 50. This pro-
duct Of criminal industry was the work or
man named Frecland and his wife who
were caught at it and arrested in Chicago
the other day.
Their Wide Circulation.
In similar ways silver certificates of 81
and s. are raised to s. and $50: treasury
notes of 81 are altered to $40. and national
bank notes are changed from 81 to $50. Or
cinary cigar stamps, in many instances,
furnish figures for the patchwork Some
of these metamorphosed pieces of money
have been circulated widely before being de-
tected, and it is probable that thousands of
them are now passing unsupported from
hand to hand. People ought to be warned
to lock out for them. Those of them which
fall into the hands of the government are
redeemed at their original face value This
sort OF crime has been practiced to some
small extent in the past, but during the last
year ii has suddenly become alarmingly
prevalent. Its increase is believed TO be
due mainly to the difficulties which have
been placed in the way Of initiating United
States currency. Counterfeiters cannot sue
cessfully reproduce the fiber paper and ma
chine engraving of government securities;
they find altering easier.
Another form of counterfeiting which has
obtained sudden and remarkable develop
ment OF late is the gliding OF sill yer coins
for fraudulent purposes. No sooner did the
new 2o-cent piece appear than its design
suggested to dishonest persons the idea of
transforming it into a SO gold piece by the
simple process of plating il with gold The
words Quarter Dollar being obliteratei
by means of punch, the silver piece when
well as an eagle. But this method is i'm
proved by striking out only the Guar
ter and soldering to the coin in its place
three small letters. making the word Ten"
the end of the Dollar Then IL only re-
mains to do the plating. and the profit is
ABOUT 500 In like manner a dime is
changed into s. gold piece
raise eagles and half-eagles Of this de-
scription have already been circulated IN
great numbers. As a rule, they are passed
without difficulty. Big profits have un-
uouptedly been Tade by those engaged in
the industry. The business requires little
skill and no extensive plant 1t NAV be
carried on in most convenient privacy An
that is needed is a small tank some cyan
lde OF potash for solution, a few feet of
copper wire, and little battery How
ever, an ordinary electric light current will
do. The process is simply that of plating
the coin being attached to one end of the
wire and piece of gold at the other END
ends lTnmarSad in ha
luton, and the current being turned on
does the rest
Other Ways of Doing IL.
1t is not surprising that persons who have
small moral principle and an appetite for
gain should be tempted to adopt so easy
and seductive a method of making money.
1t is easy enough for anybody who is on
his guard to distinguish such false goId
pieces by their lack of weight, silver being
so very much lighter than the more
precious metal. A century ago the prac-
tice of mutilating gold coins by clipping
or otherwise for profit was quite prevalent
but II Is so no longer. Pieces of hard money
that have been injured so as to lessen heir
bullion value are not easy to get rid of
nowadays, because people will not accent
them. Besides. swindlers prefer the easier
ana more satisfactory method of sweat
ing" depriving the coin of a fraction of
its substance by means of Just such hat
terry as Is above described. 1t can then he
readily passed, its brightness and smooth
ness being only calculated to arouse the
suspicion of an expert. This process Is
applied exclusively to gold pieces In fact
no case of the subtraction of metal FROM
silver coin for gain has ever been discoy-
cred by the secret service
The feelings of the government detectives
We're much shocked three weeks apo bI,
the turning up OF counterfeit treasury
note for 500. 1t was the series of ISs6
check letter A. with the head of IincoIn
on the face. 1t was the latest contrfbu-
ton from a remarkable artist who has
been puZZlins the authorities for more
than n decade. Like all of his other nro-
ductions in this line, il was done entirely
In pen and ink. 1t was actually accent "a
/ genuine at a United States slbtrea S,,r,,
and was sent thence to Washington for ~
demption. One of the experts in the re
demption division of the treasury Mic
Alma c. Smith. discovered it. and the teller
who took il in at the subtreasury will loSa
500 by the transaction. The Counterfeit
will not bear close scrutiny the initiated
lathe engraving being only mass OF men
scratches, but it has the dangerous quality
of a good general appearance
This pen-and-ink artist is a most extra
ordinary individual Up to date he has
produced about twenty-five such counter
feits. They all reach the treasury event
ually, and several specimens of his handi-
work are on exhibition at the Office of the
secret service here. Four out of five OF his
notes have been twenties, and there have
been two ffties. The new one is the only
makes them at the rate of two year. ap-
M rnr1 "a r1a.rc Taf- IL. Ill -