The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1895-06-13
WORK OF COUNTERFEITERS
a DEAL OF SKILL REQUIRED 10
BE SUCCESSFUL.

BE SUCCESSFUL
some New Methods ofwork-Raisins
the Denomination Of Small Notes
Worrying the Treasury.
ETOUNTERFE1TERS are worry
X / ing the Government detectives
~ with a new departure. They
are flooding the country with
mall notes and certificates altered
into big ones, the work being SO well
done as to render them most danger
ous. Many of them are raised" with
such art as almost to defy scrutiny,
lacking magnifying glass. They will
pass anywhere short of q bank. Some
Of them are produced by pasting over
the denominational numbers other
figures cut out Of internal revenue
stamps, with no attempt to change the
value of the piece of money as ex-
pressed in words on the face and back
Of it. But these are comparatively
crude. The formidable forgeries of
this kind are turned out by experts
who transform both words and figures
by methods so skiIful as to command
admiration.
At the Office of the secret service
Chief Drummond exhibited what
looked 80 much like SO silver ceY-
tifcate that not one man in thousand
would hesitate to accept it. Neyerthe.
less, it was in reality only 81 expertly
altered. The big figure indicating
the denomination was in each case re:
placed by an N taken from a real ten
dollar bill. That is to say, the nu.
neral, together with the oval bit OF
lathe-engraving containing it, was cut
out of certificate for $40 and so art
fully inlaid in the paper of the one
dollar greenbaek as to leave no traces
of the operstion visible to the naked
eye. Of course the ten-dollsr bills
thus mutilated could easily be treated
30 as to disguise the purpose of the
mutilation, and then sent to the Trea-
ury at Washington for redemption.
In. this simple manner plenty Of
Uncle Sans engravings could be util-
lied without expense for patchwork.
The words "One Dollar" on the face
of the bill described were altered by
putting "Ten' in the place of "One, :"
the spot where the "S" ought to
60 at the end of the dollar being SO
defaced by scratching with sharp
knife as to make it look as if
the ''S'' had been rubbed off by some
accident. Along the edges of the GER
| ti6oste and particularly in the corners
the ink was carefully smesred in such
a manner as to render the wording Of
| the denomination indistinsuishable.
All this must have required good
| deal of labor, but it represented a
| clear gain of SO. This product of
criminal industry was the work of a
nan named Freeland and his wife,
who were caught at it and arrested ir
chicago the other day.
In similar ways silver certificates Of
i anG g are raised to SIS and $40:
| ,,reasury notes of 81 are altered to SO,
National bank notes are changed
from 81 to $50. Ordinary Gig az sst.ucs,,a.-
in many instances, furnish figures fo1
the patchwork. Some Of these met.
amorphosed pieces of money have
been circulated widely before being
detected, and it is probable that thou
sands of them are now passing unsus
pected from hand to hand. People
ought to be warned to look out for
them Those of them which fall inSo
the hands of the Government ero re-
deemed at their original face value.
This sort of crime has been practiced
to some small extent in the past, but
during the last year it has suddenly
become alarmingly prevalent. Its in.
crease is believed to be due mainly to
the difficulties which have been plsced
in the way of initiating United States
currency. Counterfeiters cannot sue
,essfully reproduce the fiber papS and
machine engraving OF Government
securities; they find altering easier.
Another form of counterfeiting which
las obtained sudden and remarkable
development of late is the gliding Of
silver coins for fraudulent purposes.
No sooner did the new twenty-five cent
piece appear than it's design suggested
iodishonest persons the idea Of trans
orming it into $40 gold piece by the
Iimple process OF plating it with gold.
The words "Quarter Dollar" being OBJ
iterated by means Of a punch, the sil-
rer piece when coated with the yellow
metal will pass very well as an eagle.
But this method isimproved by striking
out only the "Quarter" and soldering
to the coin in its place three small
letters, making the word "Ten," an
"s" being added in the same fashion
on the end of the 'tDollar." Then it
only remains to do the plating, and
the profit is about $3.50 In like
manner dime is changed into S.
gold piece.
False eagles and half-eagles of THU
description have already been circu-
lated in great numbers. AS rule they
are passed without difficulty. Big
profits have undoubtedly been made
by those engaged IN the industry.
The business requires little sill and no
extensive plant. 1t may be carried on
in most convenient privacy. All that
is needed is small tank, some cyanide
Of potash for solution, few feet OF
copper wire and little battery. How
ever, an ordinary electric light cur
rent will do. The process is simply
that of plating, the coin being OF
tached to one end of the wire and
piece of gold OF the other end. Both
ends are Immersed III the potash So
ution, and the current being turned
N does the rest.-Washington Star.
YISE SynPnS.