Albuquerque evening citizen. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1905-1907, 1907-07-01
IS A COUNTERFHRS>
GANG At WORK :
IN CITY?
Many Spurious Dollars of
Date of 1898 Have Been
Passed Here
Lately.
POLICE WATCHING
SUSPICIOUS NEGRO
Indications Point to Belief That
Plant Is Located In Albu4 4Jer-
que as Many of the Coins
Have Appeared
of Late.

Is there a counterfeit gang at work
in Albuquerque?
It looks as though there were and
the police are hard at work in an
effort to ascertain who is manufac-
turing and passing the spurious dol
lars which for the past two weeks
have been turning up at bank win
dows.
The secret service officers with
headquarters in Denver have also
been notified and one will probably
reach here by the middle of the
week.
The work of the counterfeiters is
about the cfudest to come to the at
tention of the Albuquerque police in
years.
The silver dollars, several of which
turned up at the bank windows to-
day, are made in two sections. The
dye or mold is very poor one. The
two pieces are then welded together
until they are about the right thick
ness to form a passable dollar.
The date on all coins to be found
thus far is 1898. The counterfeit is
a poor representation of a dollar OF
1898, mintage.
Gamblers Caught by Coins.
One Of the principal ways found
by the counterfeiters to place the dol
lars in circulation is over the gambl-
ing tables, particularly the roulette
wheels. The counterfeit dollars are
placed in stack with good dollars
and easily pass the eyes of the
Police Watching Negro.
One negro has been known to have
at least one spurious dollar in his
under surveillance. whether he is a
member of a counterfeiting game, or
Is only one of those taken in by the
spurious coin, has not yet been de-
termined.
Bogus Dollars i'm Saloon.
One OF the spurious coins was
passed at the White Elephant saloon
and another on an employe of the
Sturges. Another was received at the
Western Union office. The recipients
of these dollars do not know who
passed them and do not remember
when the dollars were received. One
of the dollars which turned up at n
bank today was the poorest counter
felt ever seen here. There were
when dropped on a hard surface the
dollar emitted a dead, leaden sound
instead of the usual clear ring.
Chief of Police Thomas McMillin
is of the opinion that the counterfeit
dollars were not made here but were
W Oy SOHlS
travelling crook, a few of them placed
in circulation after which the crook
took his departure. However the
chief will make thorough investiga-
ton.
Counterfeit Bungling job.
1t is hoped that this is true but
as the dollars have been appearing
at regular intervals for two weeks or
longer, it is feared they may have
been made here.
If the spurious coins are produced
in Albuquerque, the counterfeiters
are evidently amateurs at the job.
The work appears more like that of
some grossly ignorant person than of
a gang of shrewd crooks.
The police say they have clews as
to the persons handling the spurious
coins and expect Developments of
some kind in the near future.
The Hardest Task on Earth.
The tracing of counterfeiters is
considered by detectives and police
departments everywhere as the hard
est task on earth. \ dollar changes
hands so many times in the course of
one day and the average person is
so careless about the handling of
monies that 1t is well night impos-
slble to follow a collective train of
clews.
The government secret service men
who will investigate the counterfeit
ing here have reduced the hunting
OF counterfeiters to a science but they
often spend weeks and months in To-
eating a plant and arresting the coun-
terfeiters Often the beast they can
terfeiters. Often the best they can
do is to secure the dies and tools
without apprehending the crooks.