The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1901-03-06
THE MODERN COINER.
HE TAKES HIGH RANK AMONG ItsTEL-
LiGENT CRIMINALS.

BE shods Of the London Countcrfeiter
In Producing the "Qucer''-Somc of
the Tricks by Which Spurious Mon
ey Ts Manufactured.
There Is no rogue half SO incorrlgiblc
as the professional coiner, said u we'll
known London detective. \ reformed
burglar or pickpocket is quite common,
but regenerated coiner. in my expert
encc. is even more rare than n black
swan or dead donkey. There appears
to be some fascination in the misnp-
piled art, for no amount of punishment
seems 20 deter Il convicted coiner from
returning to his molds and batteries
the very moment he Is free.
The modern cOiner takes n worry hi.!:
rank among intelligent criminals ard
is as far removed from his forcrunncr
OF a few generations ago as an average
man from an ape The coiner Of our
grandfathers' days was indeed clum-
sy workman. who was content with Il
battery made of jam jars, and manu-
fnctured !i:si c0iiis out or iron and tin,
bismuth and brass, and the products Of
his 'skill' would impose OH none but
the ignorant and careless.
Even today few OF the baser sort
of coiners are almost equally primitive
In their methods. Their batteries are
crudely contrivcd out Of domestic YES
sells. and the rest of their apparatus
consists of plaster Of paris and plum
bago to make the r,olds, a cruciblc, an
f11-n
grease. In fact, the whole Of their
equipment would be dear .nt half a
crown. 1t is needless to say their vic
tins are generally Of the most igno-
rant classes, and even then they and
their "sE!de pitchers" the men employ
ed to pass the spurious coins, arc often
Jagged"
The superior" coiner. however, Is n
man Of considerable intelligence, who
has often mude an exhaustive study Of
metals and electroplatiIg ana can pro-
ducc coins rs perfect In appearance as
any that are Issued from the mint and
which satisfy all the ordinary tests of
weight and SO on. In fact, many of
the coins he produces are actually
made Of gold and silver. only the gold
is Of low grade and is literally al
loyed with copper and silver. while 1t
is we'll known fact that 1t is possible
to mold spurious coins Of silver Of the
requisite fineness and yet make Il prof
1t Of 100 per cent on the manufacture.
at this rate Of profit the business is
quite lucrative enough to compensate
for q little risk, and naturally such
coins, which arc Of full weight and of
standard silver are most difficult to de-
tect.
But most coners arc not satisfied
with reasonable profit, and they prefer
to make their silver coins of antimony
and lead (autimony furnishing the bull;
of the coin), covered. Of course, with q
coating Of silver. Spurious gold coins
are largely made Of platinum. metal
which gives the requisite weight.
The process Of coming Is really very
simple, although 1t requires both deli
cacy and manipulative skill An ex.
act impression is taken of the coin to
be copied, and mold Is made from
plaster Of paris. The molten metal Is
then poured into the mold through q
small aperture In It. Any superfluous
metal is filed away, and the pnrt from
which 1t is removed Is most carefully
milled.
The coins are now placed In q rack
III silver solution, in which they are
soon covered with q coating of silver
electrically deposited on them. To re.
move any suspicious newncss they nrc
covered with n mixture Of grease and
cigar ash or lampblack. To increase
the deception the coin which Is copied
IS almost invariably old and worn, and
the resultant copy, after undergoing
the various doctoring processes, has all
the appearance OF a dirty, half obliter-
ated coin of the days Of the Georges.
A favorite trick with coiners of gold
Is to take a genuine sovereign and by
drilling or slicing remove as much rs
possible of the interior gold, filling up
the cavity with platinum, SO rs to pre-.
serve the proper weight and ring. BY
these artifices the sovereign loses half
or even rs much as three-quarters of
Its intrinsic value, while retaining the
unmistakable appearance of q good
coin.
Probably none but an expert teller
couldadetect these impostures, but the
ordinary spurious cCi., made from pew
ter, nntimony, lead and similar base
metals can almost invariably be de-
tected by one Of the following tests: If
on rubbing the coin with n moistened
finger the bright metal appears under
the worn and dirty surface, you may
be sure the coin is counterfeit. The
practice Of biting the coin, common to
many people, Is excellent, for the spurl-
Gus coin is always gritty" as distin-
guished from the smoothncss Of gen.
uine coin, and IL you find that your sus-
picious coin will make n mark on n
slate you may be sure that there is
good ground for your distrust-London
Tit-Bits.
Heroes and Cowa-ds.
Courage is an uncertain quantity; it
varies with circumstances. a man who
fancies that he is afraid Of nothing