Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1897-01-04

The sending of Dan Wyatt' llcLease Of
this county to the .psMtentiary by the
United States dissragS court for counter
iscence to RELAXING ~ E1en1efs Of the most
noted counterfetfmg exs1 known to the
panal annals gf nopthwsesern Kentucky,
kle, who were Indicted jointly at the
October term 81 the Lewis circuit court,
This ;sase Attracted sensational interest
at he.y56pe as there were thousands of
tine, 81 - Dc dollars" in circulation. and,
,3fklAdaD Known to be counterfeit, never
th4l4Ss were received without question or
out a broad territory.
The sprinkle dollar" occupies unique
position in the history OF counterfeiting.
as it was. perhaps. the only illegal dollar
ever minted that was too good The
Sprinkle dollar had larger portion of
silver in it in relation to its alloy than
the dollar that came through Uncle
Sans fingers.
The well known fact that the Sprinkle
dollar had higher bullion value than
the genuine dollar possessed helped to re-
tain it unquestioned in the circulation of
also was potent in screening Jacob
Sprinkle from the legal consequences of
his acts. Hundreds openly sympathized
with him. and the most exacting for a
long while winked at his transgressions.
Many people believed that as long as
the Sprinkle dollar contained the same
or greater proportion of silver than did
the coin from the government mint he
was doing no wrongful act, either in law
or morals. They believed that counter
feiting consisted in deceiving and cheat
Jacob Sprinkle believed this himself for a
long while, and was disillusioned only
after grand jury had indicted him.
So numerous did these dollars become
finally that a man, when receiving money
from another. would always examine it
to see how much of it consisted OF
Sprinkle dollars. II it should all consist OF
Sprinkle money, it would call forth only
pocketed the juggling coin.
I To show how far the fame of the
Sprinkle dollars spread, the following
Major Henry Mcdowell of this county
in 1910 took passage on steamer at Gin
icinnati for st. Louis. When purchasing
the fare and handed it to the clerk. The
clerk examined the money a second and
then, with a laugh. exclaimed:
Sprinkle money!.
Yes. / wish I had million dollars
like EN-
on the day the grand jury returned in
dictments against Sprinkle and his wife,
Judge Walker Reed. who then presided
as Judge, pulled a handful of the money
from his pocket and said:
Il defy the United States to produce
from their minis, dollars as good as these
/ hold in my hand
Sprinkle lived in a cabin on a small
tributary of Kinniconick. five miles south
east of Vanceburg. There he. worked.
month in and month out, coming his
money. which soon found its way into
local commerce.
of which his coins were made? Could
the writer answer this question he would
reveal a secret that hundreds have to1led
to fathom. Hundreds of picks have risen
,v,l f.,tl n J<innipnniclx
In Il futile endeavor to crack the hull of
this secret. That his ore came from some
place in the Lewis county hills Sprinkle
did not hesitate to confess. but the exact
location is a secret that died with him.
He frequently made the statement that
he would at some time tell where his
treasure was located, but after he was
public should never prosecute
him and then enjoy the benefits OF his
discovery. ~
party went out to arrest Sprinkle. after
he was indicted, they found that his home
consisted of two log cabins. situated
few yards from. each Other Their, The, They
to discover the dies and other instru-
ments necessary in his work. but found
nothing. Rambling about in the open
space between the two houses. the ground
suddenly gave way and the men dropped
into subterranean chamber ten feet below
the surface. There, after removing much
feiting trade were discovered ,s
Sprinkle and his wife, Nancy. were
taken to the county seat. but at once
were admitted to BAIL They had the
sympathy of the judge and the popular
sentiment in their favor was all but
universal -.
At the next term of the court. when the
case was called, a death certificate from
a doctor was offered showing that Sprinl
lxle had gone to his long home. lt was
untrue. of course. He died in California
in 1860. and with him the coveted secret
that SO many have toiled to fathom-
KY. Letter to the Cincinnati
Gazette.