The Colfax chronicle., 1904-07-16
THRIVE oM SMALL COINS.
counterfeiters Prosper on the Making
Of Bad Pennies and Spurious
Postage Stamps.

j
One would naturally think that the
proit from the counterfeiting Of PEN
MES would be SO small that no one
would engage in the work, yet this busi-
ness is one Of the chief annoyarces OF
the government secret service. II is
stated that in one month 10, 1866 bad PEN
MES were found in New York SUBJ
treasury. evidence that some coiners
have directed their attention to it. The
manufacture OF penny costs the gov
ernment one-fifth of cent. The coun-
terleiter does it as cheaply or at little
lower figure. Almost any copper disk
OF the proper size will pass muster. so
that the imitation of this coin is easier
and the passing of it attended with less
FISK than making and Showing the
queer IN larger denominations. But
penny-counterfeiting has the drawback
to the criminal of smaller returns and
the penalty attached is just as heavy
II ne is convicted. The government does
big business in pennies in the east,
but has much less demand for them
from the west. Over 1000 900 one
cent pieces are sorted out in an ay-
erage year in the New York subtreas-
ury. One man will count $4,000 q day,
throwing out the bad ones. One days
record of bad coppers discovered by one
handler of cents was 1880.
Counterfeiting stamps, chiefly of the
two-cenf denomination, figures next
after the manufacture of spurious pen-
nies In the motion" branch of the bad
money business. Some stamp-counter-
feiting has been notably successful.
Kendig and Jacobs. two famous crooks,
are believed to have sold 5000, 900 worth
OF bad stamps before the secret service
men ran them to earth. Then It was
through branching out into the field Of
paper money that these men came to
grief. They went from two-cent stamps
to bills OF large denominations. They
were caught in time to prevent the COM
pietion of scheme that intended put
ting into circulation $40 ,000. 900 in bad
money, and their work was so skillfuI
that detection of their paper was diff
cult
Besides the turning our Of pennies
and stamps third oddity of modern
counterfeiting is the manufacture of |
good dollars that are bad. This is. the !
counterfeiter turns out silver dolla, |
hat contains as much, if not more. sil- |
yer than the coin approved by Uncle |
Sam and placed in circulation from his |
mints There is still profit for the
counterfefter, because the value of sill /
yer In silver dollar ranges somewhere |
between so and so cents, according tc
the market; it has been 40 cents. The |
balance in value lies In Uncle Sans
credit.
The counterfeiter takes the Mexican
silver dollar, melts it and recoins it with
Uncle Sans fat forged thereon. Chi.
namen developed this scheme. Mexican
dollars circulate extensively through
the celestial empire. Some of the
heather" evolved the notion Of taking
this collateral out of bear market and
reaping par value from little manipu-
lation Of the silver and allow contained
therein.
But the secret service men checked
his operation before the profits became
extensive.
From the careful statistics they have
collected the secret service men estimate I
hat any man can make more money
working at $50 day, or less, than
through the most successful career he
nay hope for as counterfeiter. The
'est of them, considering the years de-
'oted to this business, the time out of ,
hat spent in Jail, and the value received
which has been actually returned on
abor of the highest order, have enjoyed
ess average prosperity, have had less
money to spend year in and year out, !
heir Investment of time and skilled
han the poorest paid clerk in depart
lent store :
To secure this small return they have
evoted brains and talent that would
ave furnished them with a generous
1come in almost any kind of business. :
'eteran counterfeiteFs, whom the se-
ret service men have placed behind the
ars, have always insisted that there | I
Tas no real profit in counterfeiting for !,
le criminal.
There is an ex-newspaper man in
who is chiefly responsible
,r this condition of affairs in the United
tates. This is Chief wilkie, head of !,
lie secret service. And 1t is Secret" !,
sryice. His men perform miracles; :;
ley do work which Conan Doyle could !.
edit to Sherlock Holmes to the In
-ease of that great characters reputa-
on, but no one hears much about it.
hey receive from three to seven dol p
rs a day and expenses. They collect ~
formation after fashion simply mar
,lous. But no one will ever know :, =
,w it is done, because that would de-
at their ends. In recent cases it has :
,veloped that they could lay their
ands on the secret figures of private
Ink accounts, that they could produce
schedule of the contents Of suspects
fety deposit box