Waterbury Democrat., 1902-06-27
A DOLLAR OF 1904

Capt Abbott, Of the secret Selsieo Department, had in his possession re- cently an alleged 1904 dollar that has set many secret-service men to WorK' says a. writer in the Cleveland Leader. If the dollar is genuine it is one of the rare coins of the United States and IS worth about $3,5O0 to collectors. If it is bogus it will get some one into troub- le.
 In 1904 the Government issued 1900 silver dollars For some reason or oth- CT it was decided to recall the issue; | 1 ,S96 of the dollars were returned to the treasury and destroyed. Four oI the dollars remained in circulation As soon as this became known the value of these dollars took jump, and since that t4s-ne collectors have anxiously sought after them 1t is claimed that one of the original coins is still mis- sing. There have been many counter feits of the dollars, but they were so poor that they were soon detected. However, Capt Abbott is unable to tell whether or not this 1894 dollar is genu- inc. As result it was forwarded to the Chief of the Secret-Service De- apartment at Washington
 The coin in question was obtained by the Government officials from B. H. Smith, at Lima, Ohio, few days ago, upon the supposition that it was q counterfeit Smith was taken to Tole- do. It is said that he is q gambler who travelled all over the state. While on one of his trips he went to Lima, where he became stranded. He partook heavily of morphine, it is claimed, and acted strangely. Smith visited a pawnbroker and wanted to pawn the supposed 1894 dollar for $25. The pawnbroker knew the value of the 1894 dollar and became suspicious, and reported the matter to the police, who in turn reported to the United States authorities. The latter decided to ar rest Smith, as they Were strongly of the opinion that the dollar was counterfeit.
 Smith claims that he got the dollar from q school teacher at Hamilton, Ohio, who was i'll hard luck one day and gave him the coin as security for a $25 loan. The teacher failed to re- deem the coin, according to Smiths story. The teacher was sent for, and he appeared before the authorities at Toledo He was asked how he came into possession of the dollar, and he then told rather strange. story. Smith claimed that the teacher had told him he had had several such dol lars made in Cincinnati every year, and sold them. The authorities do not be- lieve this.
 The teacher explained that he got the coin from an old German farmer ill the southern part of the State. at whose home he stopped one night while out on a hunting trip. During the evening the subject of old coins was discussed, during which the German said he had a piece of money that was q relic. He then went to a drawer and took out this 1894 dollar The teacher asked the old man how mucb he would take for it. live been oL- fered $1.20 for it,' the farmer replied not knowing it's real worth. The teacher said he then offered $2 for it. and that the bargain was closed at once
 The teacher also said that the Ger man told the following story about how the dollar came into his posses sion: 'I got it i'll South Africa many years ago. l was a soldier in the English army and was sent to South Africa for service. When 1 was dis charged l was paid off, and among the coins i'll my pay was this dollar. did not know what it was worth, or what it was, except that it was an American coin, and so l thought 1 would keep it as a relic of the war and of the United States. Shortly after my discharge I came to this country''
 The alleged history of the dollar could not be traced back any further. It remains to be seen whether or not Smith was trying to pass a counterfeit coin. Whether or not Smith will ever get the dollar back is q question: If it is a counterfeit it will be confisca- ted by the Government. If it is a gen. uine coin the Government may con- fiscate it, as all the 1894 dollars were called in shortly after they were is- sued. The other three existing dol lars cannot be taken by the Govern ment, as they are owned by certain persons, but this particular coin has fallen into the hands of the Govern ment, which will probably retain it.