The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1910-12-05
SWEATING COINS.
sold Pieces cleyerIy Robbed Of
Their Precious Metal.
THE SYSTEM is a FINE ART.

Nowadays chsmieaI Baths. Splitting
and Abrasion Take the Place OF the
older and cruder PIussins-Brand-
ING the Lightweight Money
a drilled or plugged" coin has be-
ome something of curiosity. Eyery
me remembers the Inconvenience OF
liese mutiiafed coins 1t was mat
or of daily occurrence to End one
ielf in possession OF silver. gold or
wen nickel coin defaced in this way
Sometimes the hole WIS filled with
,oIne baser metal: often it was left
,pen. This system of mntilating coins
lad the advantage. however. of being
perfectly obvious. and no careful per
ION need be deceived.
Nowadays the work of defacing coins
8 reduced 10 fine art. The old. crude
method OF plugging the coins will not /
,utiice. since the general pubic and /
Inc government are far more intoler- /
mt of the practice than ever before. |
If the precious metal is to be robbed |
rom the coins it must be done SO
,leverly that even the expert VIII be
deceived 1t no longer pays TO mutt |
ate nickel or even silver coins, so, eA-
.ept in exceptional cases. 1t is only
he gold coins which are mutilated.
rhis practice. commonly known as
sweating requires considerable skill.
md the ingenuity displayed is often
amazing.
The "sweatine' must be done in
,uch way that the coin will appear
perfect. even TO the closest observer
rhe federal government will not per-
nit any gold coin to circulate the
weight of which is below the point of
ccal tolerance. which IS fixed at one
half of per cent If a coin is found
20 be lighter than this it Is stamped
with large T.. 10 indicate its light
ness, and is returned to the bank or
lie individual who last handled it,
The only redress of the owner is to
have the coins sent to Washington TO
he reminted The owner must stand
The loss in weight. which is often CON
siderable. In cases where the coin
has been "sweated'' an investigation
may follow. with criminal prosecution.
One of the most insidious methods OF
sweating" and perhaps the most diff
.ult Of all to detect is the electroplat
ng method. The gold coins are placed
In a chemical bath. and part of the
gold is detached by electricity and de
posted on come other object In this
way the gold is removed with perfec
evenness from all parts of the coin
The letters and general design or tn
milling may be slightly dulled IN tn
process, but only as it might be fror
general wear and tear. The lightnes
&c the coin will be detected by tn
n.lles at the treasury. but in the NEAR
lime such a coin may pass from han
20 hand for long time without arous
ing suspicion 1t is obviously exceed
lngly difficult to trace the offender.
Another battling method IS TO spl
The coin and remove the gold froi
The inner surface. The hole Is the
hIled up with some baser metal.
that the weight will be the same. an
The two sides are then welded togethe
1t is possible TO take a dollars worth
gold or more in this way from twent
dollar gold piece. IL the work be ski
fully done 1t is impossible to deta
such a coin by its weight. and the OH
plew will be in some flaw i'll the mi
Ing. Naturally it takes trained, e
perienced eye to pick out such q col
Meanwhile the gold piece has pro
nbly circulated for days or eyt
months. and 1t is exceedingly difficu
to trace the offender.
-
s"sweatinCr is TO shake up number
gold coins in channels bag and pr
serve the dust aud nlicroseopical par
eles which have been loosened. T.
bag is first moistened, so that the 80
will adhere TO it, and Is afterwa
burned and the gold assayed 7
bruises or dents OH the coins viii q
pear TO have been made in the ore
nary handling The profit from Il
treatment IS small but many pcoI
seem to find profit in it. The guesti
arises If the ingenuity and labor tn
expended would not bring u larger
urn il devoted TO some legitima
work.
The men who handle the gold
come marvelously expert in detect
he "sweated' coins. In handling II
ions of dollars worth OF gold {
faced coin will rarely get past the
The coins are spread out in trays
tore them and turned over and t
light coins picked out A slight fl
N the milling, dulled appearance
he lettering or suspicious nick
lie surface VIII be quickly identiti'
AS a final test the scales which "