Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-04-27
oud You Give Ninety Cents for Perfectly Good Silver Dollar?
Here Are Few Suspicious Ones the Opportunity Who Would

II a ten-cent profit would appeal IL any
one il would t. them. - ii NsS With the
fun expectation Of having his Offer
cepted that he approached squat. fat
unshayen man who sat tilted back in ms
chair summing himself III front - his
little shop.
Like 10 huN dollar To- 80 cents
came IN. same. old opcning The second
hand dealers chair anne 70 an upright
position with 4 bang. \ moment before
that dealer had looked sleepy. hat he
didn't now He sal bolt upright and blink
I'd the CNnic.
Where de- money! ~ asked
The dollar Wa produced once more and
examined While the examination vas
in progress the dealers wife came out
and took a hand IN the proceedings.
Then they conVersed a moment in low
tones IN Yidd!sh. at the end If which
time the wife vanished inside the store
with the dollar. She returned moment
later smiling. Probably she had tested
the silver with some acid
She said something 10 her husband aud
handed him the coin tie looked ~ H. but
did not smile. Instead h said something
back Then they talked while longer.
and evidently the husband had his WAY.
for once again the dollar was handed
back to the CNnic-reIected,
It's silver all right. said the master
Of the house and II looks like pretty
good work. but don't want IL buy IT,
II don't took t. like its hiS enough
10 be regular size Too small-dot's de
only trouble with it-too small.
Hard ~ the second hand district is
small corner grocery store Here also
the Cynic wandered attempting TO sell
his COLLAR for - cents. Here ~ made
the usual proposition and proouSed the
coin for the usual examination And this
grocer il 50 happened mad a magnify
a fare-ye-well But &fterward like all
the others. he handed the coin back.
Il thought there Mas something funny
about il when you came IN" said he.
and the glass proves IT, Ii Amt no
good,
The Cynic was startled at this hold
ayowal and showed it. The grocer noted
the fact and continued. evidently well
pleased with himself:
Nav. il amt no good. he repeated
The glass shows it. An femme tell YOU
something. voting Teller. YOU better cut
1t ou;. You're firth with Jail trying To
do things like this. They'll get YOU one
they'll put YOU away good and proper,
But-but what does the magnifSing
glass show" asked the cynic feignlng
worry.
You know good and Well what it
shows" retorted the grocer meaningly
1t shows il Amt no good. II shows the
letters y. G.-and they stand for no good
If | know anything,
I'D like TO those letters. il YOU
don't mind. the cynic requested. earnest
~. moment later he himself was bend
ing over the glass. with the grocer try
ing 20 point out the fatal letters with the
point of his lead pencil. Sure enough.
too the left wing Of the eagle.
scratched with a pin Mere the letters ~.
C.-and. of course. il We're easily pos
sible for suspicious to transform that
&C. into &c.
And in vain the cNnic tried to point
out the fact that the letters had obvious
ly been scratched with pin: that neither
banks nor the government stamped coun-
terfeit silver coins bat destroy them.
and that the dollar had plainly been in
more or less constant circulation since
its coinage al New Orleans in 1879.
The grocer would have none OF these
eXpla natiOns.
Then YOU won't buy t" the cynic
asked finally.
BUY it, almost screamed the grocer.
BUY il, | should say I wouldn't buy
il. What do YOU think am-craZys
You know yourself il amt no good. If IL
was. YOU wouldn't sell it for no 80
cents
This was literally the last straw Re-
sides, to be quite truthful. the Cync
himself didn't like those tiny letters
scrached the eagles wing. OF course
they We're pin scratches. but still the
man who made them may have known
something.
So the Cynic hed himself TO the United
States Treasury into the Office OF the
chief of the secret service. Chief Flynn
was not there. but Capt Moran. assistant
and frequently acting chief, was there,
and former Chief Wikie. now alertly
guarding our customs was there. and
all kinds and degrees % counterfeit
coins
So, after bit of preliminary talk on
various subjects. the cynic once more
produced his dollar
Here's an alleged dollar" quoth he.
THE stamp man at the post Office
afraid of il. So We're lots of other men
around town. III sell il for ~ cents.
Want TO buy it,
The coin was passed over and eNamin-
ed front and back-not eNhaustively. but
still carefully. Then came two answers,
almost simultaneously.
Buy it for 20 cents" they said.
Sure
-.I'l do better than that. said Wilkie.
"TIl give you 30 cents for it. Id just as
soon make a cent off you as not,
And there was the answer TO the whole
puzzle
You can fool 'em all except the United
States government.