Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1910-11-23

Older and Cruder Plugsing-Brand-
ing the Lightweight Money.
A drilled or plugged" coin has be-
come something Of Il curiosity. Every
one remembers the Inconvenience or
these mutilated coins. 1t was mat
ter of daily occurrence to find one
self in possession Of Il silver, gold or
even nickel coin dcfaced in this way.
Sometimes the hole was filled with
some bascr metal: often it was left
open. This system Of mutilating coins
had the advantage, however. OF being
perfectly obvious. and no careful per-
son need be deceived.
Nowadays the work Of dcfacing coins
is reduced to a fine art. The old, crude
method Of plugging the coins will not
suffice. since the general public and
the government are far more intolcr-
ant Of the practice than ever before.
If the precious metal is to be robbed
from the coins 1t must be done so
cleverly that even the expert will be
deceived. 1t no longer pays to mutt
late nickel or even silver coins, so. eX-
cept in exceptional cases. it is only
the gold coins which are mutilatcd.
This practice, commonly known aS
''sweating." requires considerable skill.
and the ingenuity displayed r. often
amazing.
The "sweating" must ne done In
such way that the coin will appear
perfect, even to the closest observer.
The federal government will not per.
NIT any gold coin to circulate the
weight of which is below the point Of
legal tolerance which is fixed ut one
half of l per cent. If coin is found
to be lighter than this 1t IS stamped
with large l.. to indicate It's light
ness, and is returned to the bank or
the individual who last handled it.
The only redress Of the owner is to
have the coins sent to Washington to
be reminted The owner must stand
the loss in weight, which is often con
siderable. In eases where the coin
has been "Swcatcd" an investigation
may follow. with criminal prosecution.
One of the most inSidiOus methods OF
'sweating" and perhaps the most diff
cult Of all to detect is the clertroplat
ing method. The gold coins are placed
in Il chemical bath. and part of the
gold is detached by electricity and de-
posted on some other object. In this
way the gold is removed with perfect
evenncss from all parts Of the coin.
The letters and general design or the
milling may be slightly dulled in the
process, but only rs it might be from
general wear and tear. The lishtncSS
of the coin will be detected by the
scales at the treasury, but in the mean-
time such coin may pass from hand
to hand for long time without arous-
Ing suspicion. 1t is obviously exceed
ingly difficult to trace the offender.
Another battling method is to split
the coin and remove the gold from
the inner surface. The hole is then
filed up with some baser metal, 50
that the weight will be the same, and
the two sides are then welded together.
1t is possible to take dollars worth OF
gold or more in this way from twenty
dollar gold piece. If the work be skill
fully done it is impossible to detect
such q coin by it's weight, and the only
clew will be in some flaw in the mill
ing. Naturally it takes Il trained, eX-
perienccd eye to pick out s;ch coin.
Meanwhile the gold piece has prob
ably circulated for days or even
months, and it is exceedingly difficult
to trace the offender.
One of the commOnest methods OF
gold coins in Il chamOis bag and pre-
serve the dust and micrUScOpical partl- !
cles which have been loOSened. The
bag is first mOiStrned. SO that the gol'l
will adhere to it. and is af1erward
burned and the gold asSaycd. The ,
bruises or dents on the coins will APP
pear to have been made in the Orul-
nary handling The Profit from this
treatment is small. but many people
seem to find profit in ii. The question
tIlStS IL lllt III -''ilNlt' 'tiINl Iht''i th''
expended would not brin" 4 Iar%cr re-
turn if devoted to some legitimate
work.
The men who handle the gold be-
come marvelouSly expert in detecting
the "sweatcu" coins. lin lAn'llinE nil
lions of dollars worth Of gold 4 de-
faced coin will rarely get past them.
The coins are spread out in trays BE-
fore them and turned over and the
light coins picked out. y slight flaw
in the milling, a dulled appearance OF
the lettering or suspicious nick on
he surface will be quickly Identified.
As final test the scales. which Will
weigh Il single hair, are resorted to.
and if the slightest discrepancy can
be found every coin is examined Srpa-
rately until the faulty one has been
liscoyered.-Eew York Times.
Surrinq the Biscuit.