The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1893-07-07
PUT "STICKERS" ON COINS,
NEW w-DEvICEs wHICH ARE BoIII.
ERINa THE TREAsURY.
Esadesmen sticking Advertisements
on Silver rDolIars-Put ''Double
Headers" on Silver Pieces.

Government a good deal of
bother, They are circular
bits of paper with sdver.
elements on the face and mucilage on
The back. Made by the lick of the
bongue to adhere TO the reverse of q
silver dollar, onesof these little plas-
Gers is inst big enough to fit inside OF
the milled rim. They have been com.
ing widely into use in the West and tho
South. Every time merchant re.
ceives cartwheel dollar in the way Of
business, he slaps a sticker upon it,
which reads, '"Take me back to Buggs,
cheap furniture house, where you get
the biggest value for cash." or, ere
turn me to Snaggs, the dry goods man,
and 1 will fetch bargain.
This ingenius idea is copyrighted by
Columbus man, who prints and sup.
plies the gummed stickers to merchants
at so much thousand. His circulars,
distributed broadcast over the country,
suggests that shopkeepers had better
make haste to avail themselves of this
novel method of advertising before
law is passed forbidding it. Mean.
while dollars with stickers on them are
hoNi ihtolphS iISuSuIJ lIOill III ONeI
the United States. Bankers and bust.
hess houses are writing every day to
the department. begging it to abnte the
nuisance, which in the West hns already
spread alarmingly,
Many people are unwilling to accept
the sticker dollars, and SO the circula-
tion of Uncle Sam's coins is interfered
with. Most banks will not take them,
because the Treasury has issued noti-
fication to the effect that it will not &C.
cept or redeem them. 1t holds the
ground that they are defaced and are
not legal tender on that account. II
is true that they might be restored to
their original perfection by removing
the stickers, but Secretary Carlisle has
no appropriation for scrnping them off.
The n,ncilage employed is of so excel
lent Il quality that twelve hours soak
ing does not loosen the paper from the
silver.
Furthermore, tho covering up Of
one side of the coin renders it greatly
more difficult to discover whether tho
latter is counterfeit or not Chief
Drummond, of the Secret Service,
showed to your correspondent q
specimen of the finest imitation dollar
ever struck with die. 1t is plated
with silver, and few experts could dis
tinSuish it from real one. The de.
ception WIS considerably enhanced by
sticker on the reverse advertising
shoe house in Ottumwa, Iowa. Were
this practice permitted manufacturers
of false money would make business
of pasting on the backs of their bogus
pieces advertisements bearing the
names of reputable shop keepers. Thus,
lnasmuch as n respectable merchant
would not knowingly use bad coins to
publish his business, his credit would
help the counterfeits to gain circula-
tion. Also, how is anybody to know
that the side of the dollnr concealed by
Sticker has not been scooped out and
filled up with lead2
Fortunately there is legal enact.
ment forbidding the DETACHMENT Of the
United States money, and that law is to
be enforced fer the isRTafpSift" Tap6n the cur.
fency. Many district ATTORNEYS in
various parts of the country have
already threatened to prosecute mer.
chants using the stickers, and the
business will be brought to an abrupt
close. Oddly enough, ascheme wholly
similar was started few years ago.
but 1t was nipped in the bud before ii
had chance to spread. Men some.
times stamp their Arm names on coins.
Likewise they print their business
cards on the backs of 81 or 50 bills.
Such acts are strictly forbidden nv
law, The penalty is 800 fine for each
note or coin SO marked.
"A species of coin mutilation not less
interesting than that above described
has excited the attention of the Secret
Service during the past year. It is thd
manufacture OF what are technically
called "double headers" for gamblino
purposes. For example, q silver dollar
Is put into lathe and a cutting tool
is applied to it in such manner as To
remove three-fourth of the metal from
the back, leaving the milled rim in.
tact. What remains resembles in
form backing box lid Next, an
other dollar is taken, and the back OF
it is sliced off in the shape of n thin
disk: This disk and the fragment like
blacking box lid are then joined
neatly together in such manner as to
produce what has the appearance of a
whole silver dollar The piece thus
composed has no head of Liberty, but
two tails-one on each side.
In precisely the same manner silver
COINS are turned out with two heads.
Such pieces are sold by some dealers
IN so-called sporting" goods to per-
SONS who wish to use them for cheat
Ing unsuspicious strangers in bar
rooms and elsewhere. Dollars thus
prepared fetch $5 each, half dollars SO
each. A Chicago man arrested for
manufacturing them recently was con-
victed and fined under the law which
prohibits the making of "coins of
original designs" by private individu.
ais IN this country. There is no doubt
that the idea is exceedingly original
as we'll as dangerous to the unsophisti.
Gated.
The "little game" worked with these
"double headers" is as simple as it is
DroIitabIe Tk 10 panoa,o-u tl.I ~