The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-01-10
sPRINKLE's WELCOME DOLLARS.
A Kentucky Couutcrfeiter who Made such
Good Coins That People Liked Them.
From the Cincinnati Commercial Tribune.

oocu sotus " jill E2tscu ut"s
Prom the Cincinnati Commercial Tribune.
The sending OF Dan WYATT McLease TO the
penltentiary by tho United States District
Court for counterfeiting has started tho tongue
of Renaissance to relating particulars Of the
most noted counterfciting case known TO
the penal annals OF Northwestern Kentucky.
namely. that OF Jacob and Nancy Sprinkle,
who were indicted Jointly at the October term
OF the Lewis Circuit Court In ls4o. This Case
attracted sensational interest ut the time. as
there were thousands Of the Sprinkle dollars"
in circulation. which, though known to be coun-
~.erfeit. nevertheless were received without
question or protest in facilitating exchanges
throughout q broad territory.
The Sprinkle dollar" occu pies a unique DO
sit,on In the history OF countcrfeiting. as It
was. perhaps. the only illegal dollar ever mint
cd that was too good" The Sprinkle col
lar had u larger portion CT silver In it in re-
lRtion to its alloy than tho dollar that came
fact that the SPRINKLE dollar had a hiGhcr
bullion. value than the genuine dollar pos
se-sed helped to retain 1t unaucstioncd in
the circulation OF this and aliOining counties.
This fact also was potent In screening Jacob
SPRINKLE from the legal conseL uerces of his
acts. Hundreds openly sympathizsd with
him. and the most %exacting for u long while
wlnked Mt his trgn sgressions.
Many people believed that ms long as the
Sprinkie dollar contaiHed tho same or a grcn ter
ore portion OF silver than did the coin fr om the
Government Mint they were dol, x no wrong
full act. either in Jaw or morals. They be-
lieved that connicririting consisted in decciv-
silver. Jacob sprinkle te,ieved this him
self for n long while. ana was disillusioned
numerous did these dollars become finally
that II man. when receiving money from an
other. would always examine II TO see hcw
H. should all consist Of Sprinkle money, IL
would call forth only some ~iocuiar remark rs
the receiver pocketol the jinglins coin. To
show how far the fame of the Sprinkl. dollars
spread. the following a%necdote may suffice:
on n steamer NJ Cincinnati for 81 Louis. WHeno
purchasing his ticket he pulled out the amount
Of the fare aud handed IL 70 the clerk; The
with a laugh. exclaimed:
Sprinkle moneyV'
II wish I had a million dollars like en-"
diotments against Sprinkle and his wife,
Judge. pulled a handful Of the money from
his pocket ard said:
II defy the United States to produce from
sprinkle lived in n cabin on a small tripu.
tAry OF the Kinniconlck. Ave miles southeast OF
Van .eburu. There he worked. month IN and
month out, coming his money. which soon
found its way into local commerce.
Now. whore did hc get the ballion out or
which his coins were made? Could tho wri er
snswer this question he would rsyeal a secret
drsds OF picks have risen and fallen among tho
hills OF kinniconick In n futile endcavor TO
crack tho hull Of this secret. That his ore
came from rome place in the Lewis county
hills Sprinkle did not hesitate ~ confess. but
the exact location is u secret that died with
him. He frequently ninlc the statement that
he would at some time tel whs;e his ire tsure
was located. but after he was lndi tied he got
angry and vowed that an ungrateful public
should never prosecute him and thea en- 10y
the benefits Of his discovery.
When the sheriff, Larkin Lylcs, and a party
went out To arrest SprinKle, after he was In.
dicted. thoy found that hts home consisted Of
two log cabins. situated a few yards from each
other. They searched diligently : cough each
house TO discover tho dies and other instru-
nents necessary in his work, out found moth
Ing, Rambling about In the omen space he
tween the two houses, the ground suddenly
gave way and the men dropped into n subtcr-
ranean chamber ten feet below the surface.
There. after removing much Debris. the uten-
sils used In tho trade were discovered.
SPRINKLE and his wife. fancy. were taken to
the county seat. but Mt once were admitted 10
bail. They had the sympathy OF tho Judge.
and the popular sentiment In their favor was
all BIT universal.
At the next term OF court, when the case
was called. u death certificate from u Doctor
was offered showing that Surinkle had gone TO
his long home. IL was untrue, OF course. lie
died IN California In 1850, and with him the
secret that 50 many have toiled TO fathom.