Waterbury evening Democrat., 1906-12-18

the minting. general appearance, die
 impress. ring, size and weight will be
 found an accurate test when in doubt
 as to whether a coin is genuine or spurL
 ous. The familiar acid test may also
 be applied.
 Counterfeit coins made in molds are the more common and the more easily detected. The mold counterfeit usually applies to silver coins. A num-
 Der of years ago there were many counterfeits of silver coins made of lead and type metal. but these have largely passed because of their easy detection both as to sight and feeling, as they are slippery to the touch as compared with the real silver coin. The molding process is a cheap one to set up and is largely indulged fin by for eigners. who pass their bad products upon their own countrymen when the latter are green as to the @nuine coin.
 'The sharp. clear cut appearance of the genuine coin is absent. the milling and lettering are dim. while the read ing is usually very faint and poorly delineated. Nevertheless some pretty fair silver counterfeit coins are turned out of molds, but the weight Is gen orally short when an attempt is made to bring them within the specified thickness and diameter.
 That there is considerable counter feiting in coins still attempted is shown by the fact that ou. secret serv- fee officers captured S6.000 fin spurious gold coins and s12.OO0 in silver coins during the past year. The more ex- pert silver coin counterfeiters use for their product of the larger silver coins an alloy of about two-thlrds antimony and one-third lead. and when they heavily plate these productions they get out deceptive coin which has a pretty fair ring. The good old standby test of the required weight gives these coins away in the hands of one used to handling money. though fin some sections of the country they get into circulation easily. The dollar piece makes the most dangerous of this class of counterfeits.
 "some of the molds are made of metal. hut most of them are made of plaster of paris. The five dollar and the ten dollar gold pieces are the most favored by the counterfeiter. the twen- fy dollar gold piece being very hard to reproduce % as to hafre detection. as the die of this coin Is the most beauti- ful and the hardest to initiate of our gold coins. The predominating silver. pieces of counterfeit production are the fifty and twenty-five cent pieces and the standard silver dollar. The first two pieces of subsidiary coin are the most easily showed
 'NIckei pieces have been gold plated and passed on immigrants snd for eisncrs at New York as genuine Unit ei stafes gold pieces of the five dollar denomination. but they would not de ceive an American Sometimes a coun- terfeit of the subsidiary coins is rakei In stamped ont of brass or copper and platesl. but these coins are all of light weight and should not be deceptive Coins of the conno1er nesals. ss of pewter. are too light so bs deceptive except on Geenhorns cf fhe far over the ca variety. These coins are thick ened to give them . weight spproach- ing she rDai article and oughf to bs rndzly detscfed-
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