The Houma courier. (Houma, La.) 1878-1939, 1900-11-24
~ aoVERNMENT eoLD.
3 Cheated-some clever
couuterfaiting.

y u
gold t which would have easily
passes en in the channels OF busi-
ness, recently been turned into
ih any says q Washington Off
ounterfeit in question" said I
niIee the Mint Roberts, sis one |
nf the we detominate DANGER
bus q ts weight and extra !
fine Lhe public ia their haste
fn ths eNehapge 81 money should find
time chre each coin
aa il handled 0Hr presses
min are extremely hg
ing 900 pounds Na urallg
of cola or silver struck from o.
dies perfect as it Is possible q
mals coins Yet counterfeiters witt
i thei got presses and dies, manage
/ tQ % some very clever work
The Standard Of gold made by our
mints 900 hne, or 21.19 carats,
The English standard is .916 fine.
! The $50 counterfeit in question Isl
lprobably. composition of gold, cop
per and silver the gold being of
low grade. Platinum is the metal
which lsives the required weight, and
Is extensively used in gold counter
feiting. Anthony and lead are the
component parts Of the most danger
Gus eounterfeits Of silver coins, the
antimony furnishing the bulk of the
coin.
sCounteFfeits are made OF genuine
ST er, Of Standard weight; in fact,
some have more silver in them than
the geauine coin, which is 4t21s
grains We confiscate these coins
when we receive them. The counter
: fetters rely upon the increased value
oi the white metal when it is changed
from bullion into coins for the profit,
and Il is considerable.
Haold coins of counterfeit makes
t.aE -hagexecuted with such exquisite
precision that they will pass muster
under the eyes OF bank tellers and
2 olhegs used to the handling of coins,
hguPh the average teller generally
suspsets a spurious coin at sight.
But None get by our treasury experts.
Coins are now and then turned into
tie reasury upon the supposition
tb9e they are counterfeits, because
fail 70 give that peculiar clear
i 4 ring Of enpine gold piece, though
: they present otherwise the appear.
q ance Of being genuine. This singulaI
!, incongruity is accounted for by the
= fact that the coin has small blow
: hole in the interior Of the metal, OF
: the flaw consists Of a crack or split
near the edge.
: "The men who make it their bust
ness to cheat the government out 0,
gold adopt several processes. I saw {
. coin recently which had been filled
= so cleverly that the fraud was appar
J ent only upon the closest examina
. tion. The $40 and 500 pieces arr
Z mostly used for this operation. TIT
Q coin was sawed, through from tn
q edge by saw of minute proportion
!. and exquisite fneness. the interiol
. removed and the cavity filed will
platinum, which brought the pie6
up to standard weight, though it los
y three-uuarters of its value. 1t CAV
forth a good ring.
: "The most dangerous tamperet
Z coins are those which have beel
plugged 1 don't mean plugged a
the word is ordinarily accepted AM
as we see every day in the silver coins
but where the sllillful counterfeite
N gets out as high as one-sixth of tn
p weight of $40 or $40 piece. TIL
o. coin is pierced by boring a hole in tn
le edge and the gold is extracted fror
u this diminutive aperture. 1t is the
a. plugged with platinum, the surfac
O. of the aperture is covered with ger
" uine metal and the reeding restore
ne with file Inasmuch as the coin
y are genuine and the minute hole i
rs the edge so adroitly covered, thes
N tampered with pieces pass from han
~ to hand until the gold on the edg
le wears off and the deception become
n apparent.
"Some Of the counterfeit coins ar
ne heavier than. standard weight, thoug
:. this will strike the average person q
~ improbable. A $40 piece weighs q
grains. The counterfeit of the dat
Of 1855 weighs seven grains in exec:
. and has fine appearance. Thes
Of heavy coins are made of platinum
eC- OF the $3.50 piece look out for tho'
m. dated 1862 II is within one-half grai
la Of standard weight, composed of pla
he mum, heavily gold plated and can
i'd detected only by observing the edg'
&C. where the gold may be worn of. f"