La Junta tribune. (La Junta, Bent County, Colo.) 1881-1939, 1906-07-14
RARE COINS FORGED
ThG covMTeRFeiT PIECES 90 NOT
FOOL THE expeRTa

Rare United States coins can't BE-
counterfeited 70 as to pass muster. !"
said an old coin dealer emphaticaiiy.
There is NO more chance of die max
ers being able to make an exact coup-
terpart OF q coin than there is to imi-
tate successfully the impression q .
mans thumb.
enough. but they are clumsy. Most of
them are simple alterations of date.
They can be told at = glance by signs
as uufaIling as the sun
While the coins u series Of years
mny seem Mt first glance To be all u
one exact pattern. yet close observa-
ton Will reveal distinct dinerences
No better illustration Of this can be
shown than the rare cent pieces Of
1874
were issued In that year. and all of
them closely resembled one another.
Careful study enables experts to tell
them apart. II was in this way that
coin experts found that there were 50
many different dies made for the cent
In l79s. for the mint records make Eo
mention Of the fact.
The fayoritc coin with those who al
ter dates Is the rare 1873 cent. which
Is worth SUD and more II In uncircu-
lated condition. The 1853 cent II ths
issue that most closely resembles this
cent. and this Is the coin that In used
for alteration. No collector should br
taken in by one Of these altered speci-
mens. for there were only two varieties
of the 1870 csalf and each has marked
differences frOm the coins of the previ-
GUS year
The lqo1dollar Is another nne ex-
ample. That IL the rarest Americas
coin You would naturally supposs
that there would be many attempts to
from, $l.0OO up There has never bsen
u single attempt To counterfeit this IA
NOUS coin. but number OF coins have
been turned out with the date altered.
The design Of the lsuDa dollar is the
same to all practical purposes as that
of the year preceding Il and In fact ~
far back xs i79s. The silver dollars of
lsse. l73. 1870. 1901. is02. lslD and
lsaA are all supposed TO be alike. with
the exception OF the date. and they Do
look as much alike Ms two peas to the
novice. Vet the die makers each year
have left trifiins differences that make
the variety and the year of Issue ~
clear as day light.
In almost every case when attrmpts
have been made to initiate ths isOs
= specimen of which II only worth .
couple of dollars. To all app~aranees
an 1901 dollar Is precisely like ths isoA
coln. with the trining difference In
date. and thus the person making the
alterations seems TO think he has moth
ing to do but simply change ths into
.. Yet the reverse of the 1SOl dollar
bears little variations that ~bow thr
year In which II was struck
Plausible tales are nearly always
told by persons with such altered coins
to sell. Not long ago . man came Into
my place from the far west. Out VI q
chamois bag which he carried around
his neck he took two coins carefully
wrapped In tissue paper.
''Tenderiy he laid the coins In my
hand lie was not = coin collector. b.
said. but had heard that these two
pieces were very valuable and had
bought them st low fgure.
''One Of the coins was supposed 10 be
an 1904 dollar and the other th~ rare
1873 half dollar. without th~ arrow
points alongside of the date. whi~h
ought to have bren worth from es5 to
slUl They were certainly beauties.
both Of them. and the old man told
their history. which went sossething
like this:
Back In the early fortie~ q farm
.eeker. with his family and all his ef.
fects In n prairie schooner. came to .
halt at a ferry landing on the eastern
side Of n river In Kansas. Tfse man
was at the end of his financial r~-
sources. and the only thing In the way
OF money he had left was a large silver
dollar OF iso4
He persuaded the ferryman 20 take
his outfit acro~s In his rafbo~t and left
with him this dollar. which the pione<s
said was a rare one. worth $40 or el2
tack in the states. aud h. made The
ferryman promise TO hold the coin until
he called for II and paid the price of
the ferrtsge
The owner Of the dollar never call
ed After keeping the dollar fss mAay
years the ferryman died. and bis 80
disposed of II 10 the pre>~nt ows<s.
Wis had picked IL up for the bargain
price OF $50. The ferryman-s ssa- who
Was . good natur-d fellow. gave thr
buyer ss good measure the 1ss3 half
dollar. which. he said was aiss . s.rp
cOin-
Vow. that was a very lik<iy stssy
and ought 10 seli any cs,tn- but nst hese
IN th~ east They were both vevy Ase
sUrcim<us. and tlsry Ispked gas-A - -
eye. but they were befh initat3sns al