Gold Is Shaken From Coins

1910

New York Detectives Unearth a Clever Swindle In the Maiden Lane Jewelry District

New York. — Secret service agents who have been at work in the Maiden Lane jewelry district, have discovered coin stripping by which gold is obtained and sold, the coins being put back into circulation apparently as good as ever. The new process consists in placing the coins in a burlap bag, which is shaken vigorously.

Thus tiny flakes of metal are knocked off the coins and cling to the bag, which is then burned, the gold melting into wee ingots.

The treasury department at Washington has been getting back of late large quantities of gold coins, which seemed more scratched and battered than ordinary.

Under the microscope it became evident that these coins had been handled with strange violence. Special agents were sent here to investigate and soon uncovered the industry of shaking the coins in burlap bags.