The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-04-28
FIFTY POUNDS OF
COINS ARE FOUND
Counterfeits Are Dug Up in Fifth
East Street Yard.
UNDER FOUR FEET OF EARTH
BOGUS MONEY BURIED THERE
FOR MANY YEARS.

= IFTY pounds OF coins were UNI
earthed yesterday morning by
Abraham James while he was dig
ging "A cess pool III the rear Of the resi-
dence of Bishop Hiram b. ClawSOu at
81 Fifth East street. The coins were
silver. and. while some are believed 10
be counterfeit. many have the appear
ance of being genuine. When the dirt
and rust were cleaned off il was found
that there were English. French and
Mexican as well as United States CONS
in the mess. The value Of the coins
amounts to about $500. PROVIDED they
are not counterfeit some OF them are
stamped with dates as far back as 1899
and the latest date is 1856. milled on
United States half dollars
The excavation was about eight feet
in depth when James shOveled a dozen
or more Of the coin up on the bank OF
dirt Before doing that, however. while
he was lOoseniug the ground with a
pick, he struck the coins and remarked
: that there was some kind OF an iron
foundry buried there.
W W Wright, the contractor who
/ was constructing the pool. picked up
one Of the coins " hiCh fell at his feet
} when they We're thrown out of the hole.
I He was astOnished 10 find that it WAS
4 ii half dollar. Several ShOyelfuls Of
/ examination. after the crust of dirt
and rust was removed. it was concluded
/ that they were cOUuterfeits.
Some Taken to Police Station.
( Mr.. Wright gathered up a hatful and
4 brought them TO the police station.
! where they were examined. Some of
! them proved to be English, French.
! Mexican and United States coins, but
/ some of the officers expressed their
I doubts about their seuuineness. In the
| evening Chief William J. Lynch exam
/ ned them and he said the milling and
/ stamp seemed TO be perfect. The dates
/ on the coins were found to range from
! 1909 to 1856. but no United States dol
} lar pieces minted between those years
were found among them. That was
! one of the circumstances that tended
to convince Chief Lynch that they are
not counterfeit The United States
! standard dollar was not milled unit
1873 and for this reason it is believed
! the coins were buried long before tina
Z year At the time OF the dates men
! toned little cOUnterfeiting was beiES
/ done and according to the United
States treasury report il was not un
til the late seventies that eXtenSiV,
cOunterfeiting was done. The chief ais
expressed the belief that it would haY
been impossible to counterfeit such
variety of foreign coins
Sergeant John J. Roberts went TO tn
residence Of Bishop ClawsOn and dul
out the rest. He found that the coin
had been put in cans when they Wen
buried and all the cans but one nae
rotted away. The latter was in fai
state of preservation and containe,
half dollars
May be Miser's Hoard.
The place where the coins wer
found is just i'm the rear of the oil
foundation of the St. Mary's hospita
which was torn down about twenty
five years ago. The condition Of tn
/ coins and the fact that the cans ha
/ rUSted and Totted away suggests tina
they had been buried there at leas
thirty years ago. Since the old hOspita
has been torn down the place has be
/ longed To the ClaWson family. Befor
I that, however. Indian Agent DOdg
lived in small house adjoining tn
/ hospital Some of the Oldest resident
in that section of the city say tina
there was an old cellar in that IOcalit
which was filled up years ago. FroI
this fact it seems reaSona BILE to beIiev
; that the coins were boarded by mise
The coins will be examined today b
an expert.
Some persons cling TO the idea thu
, they are counterfeit. Many Of the al
residents of the city recall that aboI
twenty or twenty-five years ago thpI
p was am influx of COunterfcftCrS into "a
p Lake city. but II was believed at thu
? time that they were made in the ed S
The banks were on the lookout fl
, J them and the people We're general
: . notified to examine their silver coin
+ This might have been a cache even Z
J far back as that time After a gre;
many COINS had been put into ciTculs
/ ton the operators left the CITY
, United States Marshal 3. 3 He7
wood was notified yesterday Of the finc
, ing of the COINS, and they will prOl
q ably be sent to Denver for further @,
r I animation and then to Washington