The Dickinson press., 1910-11-26
SWEATING COINS.
Gold Pieces cIeverIy Robbed Of
Their Precious Metal.
THE SYSTEM IS A FINE ART.

THE SYSTEM IS A FINE ART.
Nowadays Chemical 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-
come something of a curiosity. Every.
one remembers the inconvenience of
these mutilated coins. 1t was a mat,
ter Of daily occurrence to find one
self in possession Of a silver, gold or
even nickel coin defaced in this way.
Sometimes the hole was filled with
some baser metal; often it was left
open. This system Of mutilating coins
had the advantage, however, Of being
perfectly obvious, and nc. careful per-
son need be deceived.
Nowadays the work of defacing 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 1ntoler-
ant of the practice than ever before.
If the precious metal is to be robbed
from the coins it 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 mutilated.
This practice, commonly known as
sweating" requires considerable skill,
and the ingenuity displayed is often
amazing.
The Sweating" must be done in
such a way that the coin will appear
perfect, even to the closest observer.
The federal government will not per.
init any gold coin to circulate the
weight of which is below the point of
legal tolerance, which is fixed at one
half of 1 per cent. If a coin is found
to be lighter than this it is stamped
with a 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 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.
cult of all to detect is the electroplat.
ing method. The gold coins are placed
in a 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
evenness from all parts of the coin.
The letters and general design or the
milling may be slightly dulled in the
process, but only as it might be from
general wear and tear. The lightness
Of the coin will be detected by the
scales at the treasury, but in the mean
time such a coin may pass from hand
to hand for a 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, so
that the weight will be the same, and
the two sides are then welded together.
It is possible to take a dollars worth Of
gold or more in this way from a twenty
dollar gold piece. If the work be skill
fully done it is impossible to detect
such a coin by its weight. and the only
clew will be in ONE flaw in the mill.
ing. Naturally it takes a trained, ex-
perienced eye to pick out such aScoin.
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
Sweating" is to shake up a number Of
gold coins In a chamois bag and pre-
serve the dust and m~icroscopical parti-
cles which have been loosened. The
bag is first moistened, so that the gold
will adhere to it, and is afterward
burned and the gold assayed. The
bruises OIL dents on the coins will ap.
pear to have been made in the ordi.
nary handling. The profit from this
treatment is small, but many people
seem to find profit in it: The question
arises If the ingenuity and labor thus
expended would not bring a larger re.
turn If devoted to some legitimate
work.
The men who handle the gold be-.
come m~arvelously expert in detecting
the ''sweated' coins. In handling mil.
lions Of dollars worth of gold a 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. A slight flaw
in the milling, a dulled appearance Of
the lettering or a suspicious nick On
the surface will be quickly identified.
AS a final test the scales, which will
weigh a single hair, are resorted to,
and if the slightest discrepancy can
be found every coin is examined sepa.
rately until the faulty one has been
Observation-Disclosures York. P4mna