The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-02-11
GOLD AND SILVE R
Trouble for The Treasury Caused by
Makers Of False Coins.
Counterfeit Silver in Bed Rooms.
How Gold is Lost.

Their Business Observation-Disclosures
! Counterfeit Silver in Bed Rooms.
How Gold is Lost.
From the Washington Star.
Though the business of counterfeiting
paper money in this country has been
I brought practically to an end, the coming
I of false silver and gold-more especially
4 the fOrmer-is a more hourishing indus
/ try now than ever before. The imita-
( ton Of gold pieces is done chiefly on the
/ Pacific slope, where the yellow metal is
/ commonly handled as currency. In the
east there is comparatively little of it in
circulation, and for that reason such OF it
as passes from hand to hand is closely
scrutinized. No really frst-rate counter
felt of gold coin is at present extant,
says Chief Drummond of the secret ser
vice.
The game practiced by gang captured
in Chicago the other day was wholly new.
They made money by clipping double
eagles in manner as ingenious as 1t was
novel. The process consisted in slicing of
a rim from each $50 piece as a tire might
be removed from the wheel. The CORFU
gated edge called the ''reeding,' being
removed incidentally, the mutilated coin
was then re-reeded in a machine. Thus
It's appearance was perfectly restored,
only the diameter being altered. Nothing
wrong with it was discoveraOle by the
casual observer. OF course, the faces
were unaltered.
The persons engaged in this remunera-
tive enterprise, for the sake of prudence,
contented themselves with moderate
profits. They took care not to rob any
single coin OF more than 81 of its intrinsic
value. Nevertheless, they were caught
after having treated and restored to cir
culation 600 double eagles. representing
Sl2 600. Five hundred dollars worth of
them reached the treasury at Washington
last week, forwarded by Chicago bank
which desired paper money in exchange.
That financial institution had not noticed
anything wrong about them. OF course,
they will be redeemed as so much bullion,
to be afterward melted and reminted.
SWEATING GOLD COIN.
In their aim for modest gains these peo-
pie initiated sweaters of gold coin, who
are usually satisfied with stealing about
IS cents worth of metal from each $50
piece. Employing the electric battery,
this process removes a thin coat from the
entire Surface of the double eagle, which,
to the average individual, has as good an
appearance as before it underwent the
operation. it is only the trained eye that
takes note of a suspicious brightness,
while to the touch the normal Irregular
ties seem to be smoothed down. A
method preferred by other criminals is to
cut hole in the edge of the coin, through
which part of the metal from the in
terror is taken out by boring. The cav
ity is then filled with lead and the place
where the opening was is concealed with
a coating of gold. This is a sort of drift"
mining on a very small scale, but yield
ing sure results, the ore being 80 per cent
pure.
FALSE SILVER COINS.
While the counterfeiting of gold is not
conducted on an extensive scale, the bust
ness of making false silver coins is going
on continually all over the United States
The attractiveness of the industry con
sists largely in its simplicity. 1t requires
little skill and no apparatus worth men
tioning. Anybody can make plaster-of-
paris mold from a cartwheel dollar, and
thus turn out licensees of the coins,
using a mixture of base metals as raw
material Recipes for mixtures suitable
for the purpose are passed about in peni-
tentiaries and other penal institutions
In fact, petty counterfeiters are mostly
educated in prisons. Having learned the
trade while in durance vile, new appren-
tees start in for themselves as soon as
they are set at libeaty. In this way
chiefly has knowledge of the art been
spread.
CRIMINAL IMMIGRANTS.
The emigrants whom Uucle Sam so
Hospitality welcomes 20 these shores are
very commonly criminals in esSe or in
posse Many of them find congenial en-
ployment in initiating the national cur
renCy. This applies particularly to Ital-
ians Two-thirds of the foreign counter
feiters in this country are of that nation
atty. They do the work largely in their
bed rooms, melting the natalie compost
ton in a pot on the stove and filling the
molds with pewter laddle. The stuff
is showed to a great extent by vendors of
| peanuts and fruit. They enjoy ex-
ceptional facilities for getting rid of
bogus dimes and quarters. In dealing
with these peddlers one does well to
I scrutinize ones change closely Re
Gently number of such peripatetic mer-
chants were brought to justice in Chi
! cago. The district attorney there pro-
cured some of his evidence by handing a
dollar to a banana man in payment for a
| lO-cent purchase, The. entire lot of silver
returned TO him was counterfeit.
THE DOODLE CARRIER.
| A safer method, commonly adopted by
! the Italians for passing bad silver, is that
/ in which the Doodle carrier figures. His
title sufficiently describes the part he
! taxes IN Tue performance. Following
along behind the man who acts as
shower" he keeps the latter supplied
with single coin at a time. The shower"
having got rid of one, meets his con
federate at the next corner and receives
another. If caught, he has no other
counterfeit money in his possession and
can plead ignorance No wonder that
these sons of Italy get rich and return to
their native lan0 after few years, to
spend the rest of their lives in the pursuit
of elegant leisure. Missouri has as many
petty counterfeiters as any state in the
union, but in that part of the country
this business claims the attention of ma
tive Americans almost exclusively. False
money is largely circulated in the south,
where almost anything that bears a
reasonably close resemblance to the ma
tional currency is readily accepted.
DANGEROUS COUNTERFEITs.
Several dangerous silver counterfeits
are in general circulation in this country
at present. The most successful of them
all is the hard dollar" as it is called
1t Is such perfect imitation of the orig
NAL coin that its appearance will deceive
an expert on close examination Even
the acid test it withstands Though a
couple of grains light, abrasion might be