The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1896-03-12
Criminal Operations In Doctoring
Unole Sans Currency.
How skIllfui sianlru!Stors Derive Large
Profits from Clipping. saving,
Gougins, Boring and Gliding
Gold Pieces.


Ian rs,gs, l,st voar savs n Ncw Yorl,
iIarnld w,ritsr refer In what was
l-,,o,,n ,s tha ..c,;n stiel,a,,, xvb;.b
,.,sy,,. ,,,s.;,,I., ~, n,.t-act;n,, "a with.
.cpt iis,,vorv nart of the silver in
esin. ybo inventor of this ..eoin
ss;el,nr .vh;eh vag AN advertisement
.,r;rt3,{s ~, ,,ar,sr a l.. nass,:l on coins
,,sla trrr;tsr;.l rial,ts ;o nri,,t aps use
Tha ..,,,n sti,-ev,, cast .;s,a govern
,,srt !, g,.,,S asa1 II tranble ana ex-
nnnse III snnnrnss ON eFfv s.ant nud
M. sisliar e5;ns was naste5 the asver-
t;+e,5,s;,is v-sfh \ rasta II sac xgl,,sh
ala,,st .leiiesi renewal coveri,,r the in.
srTineia. on the r,verse nf tl,e coin.
j,sllarino the resonance ana n conrse
era:,lj,,r the sviufllor to take out mart
y ,he siIrer nnA s,,l,st;tut. l,asa metal
s,Ynrious coins Of very common work
mnuship also passea readily with the
coin sticler on thcr,.
There Is n great increase of late in
tbe number al sl,iI1fpl men who ara
ronstarflv stndv;nr wavs and means
az sseal;ng,a n mart cf the genuine metal
from our eoins and substituting base
metal. One OF the most successful
swindlers in this line was a man named
wilcox. Who was reesutIv taken into
'custody IN rfiea-, bv secret service Of
flcers. He made an nyerage income of
from fifty 70 one hundred dollars 4 Cay
by climbing gold coins. by cutting a
rim fran eround the coin. as a tire
might be renewed from a wheel. he
took away from each twenty-dollar
rold piece an amount Of gold not ex-
ceed;nr twentv-six or twenty-nine
Grains in weirht. or the value of one
dollar. The subsequent rereeding Of
the double earle. done with machine.
rendered it as perfect as ever to the eve
Of the casual observer.
The apparatus was small and easily
hacked. aud on reaching a fresh locali-
ty all that was required was a quiet
room in an obscure street and a supply
Of rold coin. The latter he senured
from the bank. He would deposit a
considerable sum of money. and after
awhile he would draw 1t out in gold.
The clipped coins were passed by Mrs.
Wilcox at dry goods shops mostly.
One Of the most interesting processes
consists in saving q double eagle in
two through the edge and gouging out
the inside, SO as to remove about if
teen dollars worth of gold. Thus the
niece is reduced to hollow shell in
halves. 1t is then filed with platinum,
which ia neurly as heavy as yellow
metal and costs at the present market
rates. though this varies, somewhat
less than one-half. Lead is too light
for the purpose. The cut edpe of the
reconstructed coin is disguised bv q
rim Of pold soldered ON. and a reedin0
machine renews the corrugations Of
the minting. The result is really a
work Of art. being a combination Of
five different metals. Only an expert
can distinguish ANYTHING wrong about
it.
A method somewhat similar. though
less artistic is to 6u bstitute for the in
terror portion Of a gold piece core in
the shape Of a pIanchet of silver, A
better plan, though somewhat labori-
ous, consists in boring into the coin
from the edge so as TO remove consid-
erable part Of its internal substance.
In this manner about seven dollars
worth Of gold NAV be conveniently re-
moved from twenty-dollar piece. the
hole heing filed up with metal com
position and soldered at the opening
with gold.
Fortunately for the currency. urac-
tically al the gold in circulation in the
United States passes every few hours
through the treasury and subtreas-
uries. Every piece received at those
institutions is weighed, and. if found
light in weight, is STAMPED with bie
81" Such coins are redeemed as
bullion. The loss 70 the government
by wear and tear on silver coin in
circulation is considerable. 1t averages
three cents on every dollar. Last year
it amounted to s2s9, ,2ss.
The people have NOT all become
familiar with the faces of the new
silver coins. The diverse and reverse
OF the older coins they have known so
long and intimately that the draped
figure Of Liberty and the majestic pose
of the eagle are fixed in their mind and
always recognized, but the new coins.
with changed DESIGNS to which
u14as tiiehi iiiOie' "ere aousd Lhe