The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1903-03-20
"A BIG FAKE!
Deal in Pennies as a Result of a
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OF A WASHINGTON MERCHANT,
Who oTered "1s Cents for 1909
Pennies" and by Which
nlany Spectators Were
| Caught.
| Recently Il clothing store in Wash
ington advertised that it would pay at
noon Saturday, the 7th inst, '18
cents for 1902" pennies, and because
OF this advertisement practically all
the pennies in the pledcmont section
Of North Carolina and in Il goud many
towns in upper South Carolina have
come into the possession Of Il few
spectators. The fact that the ad-
vcrtiscmcnt was not a bonatide pro-
position, but Il play on words, did not
become known until Wednesday when
it was discovered that, thousand of
1902 coppcrs had changed hands after
Il big premium had been paid
The following is the story as told
by the Charlotte Observer:
For Il week or ten days it has been
currently rlmored IN this city that Il
Washington agency wanted the pen
nicS I'm question:, and it was said that
the agency was acting for the govern
mcn5, which wished the pennies re-
called because it had been found that
in coming them Il large quantity Of
gold had been accidentally spilled into
The molten copper
The absurtliLy of the rllmnr seemed
to impress no Speculator, and for the
last four or five days penny buying
has been going on here ut a great
rate.
Early last week Mr.. Edwin b.
Gresham, Of the firm Of Gresham Il
Company, the well known railroad
eating house concern, collected all the
1907 pennies he could in banks and
other business places in Charlotte He
got the pennies at their real value and
before the report OF the prnium. Civ
ing had become widespread. a day
or SO after his purchase Mr.. Gresham
sold to Baggage Agent Sonncr Of the
Southern railway, $50 pennies for S33.
ana Sonner stated that the next day
he sold the pennies to Il bank i'm
Alexandria, Va, at Is cents apiece.
Mr.. Gresham worked aSsiduonsl v
and collected many hundred other
pennies, but lie was able to sell none
OF those at a profit. lie still has on
hand enough copper to make life-siZed
statues OF both The mayor and the re-
cOrdcr
Mr. Gresham was not the only man
who bought pennies in large quanti-
ties. Tom Rowland, the popular
conductor on tile SLatesville road, de-
voted large part Of his time to COP
per-grabbiny and did not deSSt III his
speculative operation until Wednes-
day.
half Il dozen other Charlotte men.
men In ncar,b BY South Carolina towns,
and residents Of Salisbury and other
places in this State, made wide search
for last years coppers
Tie movements Of the spccnlators
had its natural ELECT, and for Il week
1902 pennies have been selling high:
jumping from two and Il half and three
| " y
apiece.
The knowledge that the advertise
mcnt was inserted with intent to de-
ccivc did not reach here until WedDcs-
day. 1t WAS said that bags holding
over G,0o0 pennies belonging to Spccu-
lators in this section, reached Wash
ington Saturday morning, and, keep
ing company with copper that came
from many other sources, were about
to he taken to the clothing store to he
redeemed at the is cents valuati on,
when it was discovered that a visit to
the store would provoke ridiculc and
allow no profit. 1t was declared that
the first man who entered the store
presented $50 pennies and demand
cd Is cents for each copper
You have misunderstood the adj
ycrtisemcnt," was the reply.
but yo,l said you would give IS
cents for 1902 pennies
Certainly: we are prepared now to
give Is cents for one thousand nine
teen hundred and two pennies"
Then the would bc vendor under
stood the game that had been played
sEouldcrcd his coppcrs and walked
away Other men who came CARRYING
copper as Il prize were met with Il
similar reception. And the copper
that went 10 Washington from the
piedmont section was shipped back
home MIR. Gresham said last night
that he had been told that the enter
prising business men who worked the
advertisement had been arrested.
t was reported in Charlotte We'd
nesday night that the mad scramble for
the 1902 pennies was still maintained.
Pennies OF that date sold for 9 cents
each in Moorcsvillc yesterday, it was
declared, and were still bringing a
fancy price In Salisbury and other
pcighboring towns. The agitation over
copper has struck the rural districts
Of upper South Carolina and unless
runners convey the intelligence OF the
fake game into the various hamlcts
the fierce rush for one cent pieces may
last for 4 good many days.
Must Not Drink.
| Mr. JIammptt Chief Stoto C,n