Akron daily Democrat. [volume] (Akron, Ohio) 1892-1902, 1899-12-23
end of coins on the Pacific slope.


The process of robbing a coin of part
of its metal is simple The gold piece is
merely immersed, or suspended, in aqua
regis, mixture of nitric and hydro
chloric acids, which attacks the metal
at once. The manipulation keeps the
piece in his bottle only short time,
for q few minutes suffice for the mix
ture to absorb and hold in solution as
much as six TO eight shillings' worth
of the gold from $50 piece. The coin
is then washed in water and polished
with whiting, as otherwise its surface
would betray the ordeal through which
it had been passed, showing "pock-
marks" in great variety.
In San Francisco the government Sc
cret agents have waged long and Bit
ter war with sweaters. They have cap
tured many, who were guilty enough in
all conscience, but against whom no
conviction could be obtained for lack
of evidence, and they have placed Others
beyond all worldly temptation for vari-
Gus terms of years. One of the lone
kings of this nefarious business, who
was finally obliged to sojourn for rest
in the penitentiary at San Quentin, was
named Goodrich. He was an exceed
ingly modest and retiring man. He oc-
cupied an ordinary dwelling and con-
Quoted his operations on the roof. After
many long weeks of vigil on the part
of government detectives he was taken
into custody, not red handed, but at
least black fingered by the acid. His
apparatus was found most cleverly
concealed behind movable bricks in the
chimney. on top of his house. At the
time of his capture small bottle of
greenish fluid was found, and this, upon
being carefully reduced to fumes, yield
ed up button worth fully two guineas.
A few coins were discovered in the
mans pockets ard also in his residence.
These, to all appearances, were honest
coins of the realm. Under the micro
scope they were found to be fairly cross
Matched with tiny lines, which had been
produced by the process of polishing, to
remove the traces where the acid had
eaten away the metal.
Insidious as this acid thieving may
appear, it might be regarded as crude
by those who are acquainted with tbs
tricks that are vain" exercised by the
"heathen Chinee." John Chinaman is
numerous in California. He gets his
long hands on many golden disk, and
with great reluctance does he ever re-
linguish his grip. He has never learned
the "art" Of sweating the coins with
acid, but he accomplishes his purpose
in his characteristically patient man
ner. He simply places many coins to-
gether in buckskin bag and then pro-
ceeds to shake and toss and otherwise
agitate that receptacle by the hour, or
by the week, until he has worn off by
abrasion $40 or $50 worth OF fine dust of
gold.
The coins wear one another. They
present the appearance, when at length
they emerge from the sack, of having
been regularly abraded by pocket-to-
pocket circulation, and therefore to all
intents and purposes nothing Illegal
has been done. AS a matter Of fact,
no Chinese has ever been apprehended
or put on trial for this work. 1t is
doubtful If the authorities have ever
taken cognizance of the practice. Only
few people ever realized what the sly
Celestials were at when witnessing the
hourly agitation of the coins. 1t is, of
course, unlawful TO bore hole through
a gold coin in America or to perform
any other mutilation, but Mr.. China
man cannot be said to mutilate the
money he wears out so artfully. and
therefore he pursues his course serene
and unmolested
There have been clever rogues from
time to time who employ slender tool
with which to gut" coin. Their
method is to make small incision in
.he edge of a coin and then patiently
dig out the inside, after which they re-
fill the hollow space with baser metal.
High art" like this has become almost
obsolete, for the acid business has fire.
quently proved safer and less difficult
of performance. Laws will multiply
and detectives will wax more and more
like Sherlock Holmes, but she makers