Paper Money - Vol. XXXII, No. 3 - Whole No. 165 - May - June 1993


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VOL. XXXII No. 3 WHOLE No. 165 MAY JUN 1993 1 ORELIA Do You Collect Paper Money or Stocks & Bonds? A.R. -Y. • 1,11.: VPIT rwnrturc 4,1,11TIVIES IIAN 11E1, 111:14,1'11:11 .111E , ,,. --tAaitst:fr: — --=---osuatizt=i), .-.1111 E. 7411NETED STÄTE S °FAME DIC7177,' ,.......... " • 29643711:=- c274934T,T71 - — 285804661- ....... .... SHAMOKIN ...... 1-tT****-7tT 1T-tnr*-4(34- ***************** R.M. Smythe & Co. Auctions reach the most important collectors & dealers in U.S. & International Currency, Coins, Stocks & Bonds, Autographs, Ex- onumia & related material. Call today or send for our free color brochure describing the wide range of specialized and personal services we offer. BUYING ALL U.S. PAPER MONEY & STOCKS AND BONDS CALL OR WRITE For Our Latest Price List Of Stocks & Bonds! ********************************** 26 Broadway Suite 271 New York, NY 10004-1701 WARM 11311E 11450441110 4j#044 ‘1.■71tA.I.Z MEMBER TOLL FREE 800-622-1880 NY 212-943-1880 FAX: 212-908-4047 BUYING ■ Obsolete, Confederate, Colonial and Federal Currency ■ Antique Stock & Bond Certificates ■ Rare Autographs We will purchase your material outright if you desire. Call or write today. aalAISI.,■■■•■■■•0111 SOCIETY OF PAPER MONEY COLLECTORS INC. Paper Money Whole No. 165 Page 81 PAPER MONEY is published every other month beginning in January by The Society of Paper Money Collectors. Second class postage paid at Dover, DE 19901. Postmaster send address changes to: Bob Cochran, Secretary, P.O. Box 1085, Florissant, MO 63031. © Society of Paper Money Collectors, Inc., 1993. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any article, in whole or in part, without ex- press written permission, is prohibited. Individual copies of PAPER MONEY are available from the Book Sales Coordinator for $2.75 each plus $1 postage. Five or more copies are sent postage free. ADVERTISING RATES SPACE Outside 1 TIME 3 TIMES 6 TIMES Back Cover $152 $420 $825 Inside Front & Back Cover $145 $405 $798 Full Page $140 $395 $775 Half-page $75 $200 $390 Quarter-page $38 $105 $198 Eighth-page $20 $55 $105 To keep rates at a minimum, advertising must be prepaid in advance according to the above sched- ule. In exceptional cases where special artwork or extra typing are required, the advertiser will be no- tified and billed extra for them accordingly. Rates are not commissionable. Proofs are not supplied. Deadline: Copy must be in the editorial office no later than the 1st of the month preceding issue (e.g., Feb. I for March/April issue). With advance notice, camera-ready copy will be accepted up to three weeks later. Mechanical Requirements: Full page 42-57 picas; half-page may be either vertical or horizontal in format. Single column width, 20 picas. Halftones acceptable, but not mats or stereos. Page position may be requested but cannot be guaranteed. Advertising copy shall be restricted to paper cur- rency and allied numismatic material and publi- cations and accessories related thereto. SPMC does not guarantee advertisements but accepts copy in good faith, reserving the right to reject objection- able material or edit any copy. SPMC assumes no financial responsibility for typographical errors in advertisements, but agrees to reprint that portion of an advertisement in which typographical error should occur upon prompt notification of such error. \stio wAll advertising copy and correspondence should be sent to the Editor. Official Bimonthly Publication of The Society of Paper Money Collectors, Inc. Vol. )00{11 No. 3 Whole No. 165 MAY/JUNE 1993 ISSN 0031-U62 GENE HESSLER, Editor P.O. Box 8147 St. Louis, MO 63156 Manuscripts, not under consideration elsewhere, and publications for review should be addressed to the Editor. Opinions expressed by the authors are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the SPMC or its staff. PAPER MONEY reserves the right to reject any copy. Manuscripts that are accepted will be published as soon as pos- sible. However, publication in a specific issue cannot be guaranteed. IN THIS ISSUE ARMANDINA I,OZANO Gene Hessler 83 THE STORY OF "CRANKY TOM" HALE Bob Cochran 86 WHAT IS A "BANK"? Robert D. Hatfield 89 FRANK LESLIE'S CONFEDERATE NOTE Brent Hughes 90 LAUNDERING OUR PAPER MONEY Waldon Fawcett 95 THE PAPER MONEY LAUNDRY Forrest W. Daniel 97 THE PAPER COLUMN NATIONAL BANK NOTE SHEETS WITH BANK SERIAL NUMBER 1000000 Peter Huntoon 100 NUMISART—AN APPROACH K.S. Bauman 101 SYNGRAPHIC VIGNETTES Robert Lloyd 103 SOCIETY FEATURES NOTED & PASSED 104 MEET YOUR CHARTER MEMBERS 104 MEET YOUR NEW BOARD MEMBERS 105 NEW LITERATURE 105 NEW MEMBERS 106 MONEY MART 107 ON THE COVER: Armandina Lozano engraved this portrait of her sister, Orelia. See page 83 for more about this engraver. Inquiries concerning non -delivery of PAPER MONEY should be sent to the secre- tary; for additional copies and back issues contact book coordinator. Addresses are on the next page. ■••=11111, SOCIETY OF PAPER MONEY COLLECTORS OFFICERS PRESIDENT AUSTIN M. SHEHEEN Jr., P.O. Box 428, Camden, SC 29020 VICE-PRESIDENT JUDITH MURPHY, P.O. Box 24056, Winston Salem, NC 27114 SECRETARY ROBERT COCHRAN, P.O. Box 1085, Florissant, MO 63031 TREASURER DEAN OAKES, Drawer 1456, Iowa City, IA 52240 APPOINTEES EDITOR GENE HESSLER, P.O. Box 8147, St. Louis, MO 63156 MEMBERSHIP DIRECTOR RON HORSTMAN, Box 2999, Leslie, MO 63056 BOOK SALES COORDINATOR RICHARD J. BALBATON, P.O.Box 911, N. Attleboro, MA 02761 - 0911 WISMER BOOK PROJECT Chairman to be appointed LEGAL COUNSEL ROBERT I. GALIETTE, 10 Wilcox Lane, Avon, CT 06001 LIBRARIAN WALTER FORTNER, P.O. Box 152, Terre Haute, IN 47808-0152 For information about borrowing books, write to the Librarian. PAST-PRESIDENT RICHARD J. BALBATON, P.O. Box 911, N. Attleboro, MA 02761-0911 BOARD OF GOVERNORS DR. NELSON PAGE ASPEN, 420 Owen Road, West Chester, PA 19380 CHARLES COLVER, 611 N. Banna Avenue, Covina, CA 91724 MICHAEL CRABS, Jr., P.O. Box 17871, Memphis, TN 38187-0871 C. JOHN FERRERI, P.O. Box 33, Storrs, CT 06268 MILTON R. FRIEDBERG, Suite 203, 30799 Pinetree Rd., Cleve- land, OH 44124 GENE HESSLER, P.O. Box 8147, St. Louis, MO 63156 RON HORSTMAN, Box 2999, Leslie, MO 63056 ROBERT R. MOON, P.O. Box 81, Kinderhook, NY 12106 WILLIAM F. MROSS, P.O. Box 21, Racine, WI 53401 DEAN OAKES, Drawer 1456, Iowa City, IA 52240 BOB RABY, 2597 Avery Avenue, Memphis, TN 38112 STEPHEN TAYLOR, 70 West View Avenue, Dover, DE 19901 FRANK TRASK, P.O. Box 99, East Vassalboro, ME 04935 WENDELL W. WOLKA, P.O. Box 262, Pewaukee, WI 53072 The Society of Paper Money Collectors was organized in 1961 and incorporated in 1964 as a non-profit organiza- tion under the laws of the District of Columbia. It is affiliated with the American Numismatic Association. The annual meeting is held at the Memphis IPMS in June. MEMBERSHIP—REGULAR and LIFE. Applicants must be at least 18 years of age and of good moral character. JUNIOR. Applicants must be from 12 to 18 years of age and of good moral character. Their application must be signed by a parent or guardian. They will be preceded by the letter "j". This letter will be removed upon notification to the secretary that the member has reached 18 years of age. Junior members are not eligible to hold office or vote. Members of the ANA or other recognized numismatic societies are eligible for membership. Other applicants should be sponsored by an SMPC member or provide suitable references. DUES—Annual dues are $20. Members in Canada and Mexico should add $5 to cover additional postage; members throughout the rest of the world add $10. Life membership, payable in installments within one year, is $300. Members who join the Society prior to Oct. 1st re- ceive the magazines already issued in the year in which they join. Members who join after Oct. 1st will have their dues paid through December of the following year. They will also receive, as a bonus, a copy of the magazine issued in November of the year in which they joined. P.O. BOX 84 • NANUET, N.Y 10954 BUYING / SELLING: UNCUT SHTS, PROOFS, S RIP BARRY WEXLER, Pres. Member: SPMC, PCDA, ANA, FUN, GENA, ASCC (914) 352.9077 Page 82 Paper Money Whole No. 165 by GENE HESSLER Armandina Lozano Paper Money Whole No. 165 Page 83 Few women in the world share the specialized talent of ARMANDINA LOZANO A T THE AGE of five Ar- mandina Lozano was fascinated with the en- graved lines, lines that were raised, lines that you could feel, on the portraits of the bank notes in her native Mexico. These notes were printed from intaglio-engraved steel plates at American Bank Note Company in the United States. Although all hand-engraving that will be impressed on paper is done in intaglio, this word has an in- dividual connotation and de- mands respect when applied to security engraving. El Banco de Mexico, where Armandina Lozano was employed from 1978 to 1982, now produces their own bank notes. As one of just a few female engravers cur- rently engraving portraits for paper money and other security documents, Ms. Lozano now practices her highly-skilled art for American Bank Note Company. There are and have been fe- male engravers who work in the security-engraving world; how- ever, all are or were letter or script engravers. It was not until this century that a few women made their mark as security por- trait engravers. At her home in Los Angeles, Armandina Lozano told me that from the instant she first placed the graver, the primary engraving instrument, in the palm of her right-hand it felt completely nat- ural. Engraving continues to be the passion that dominates the life of this extraordinary artist who, like other security engravers, must create her work in reverse. Following her art studies in the United States and Mexico, in- cluding work at the Escuela Nacional de Artes Visuales at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Ms. Lozano was sent to England and Italy by El Banco de Mexico to study secu- rity engraving. She was one of four from 1,000 applicants to re- ceive this honor. At Thomas de la Rue in London and the Engraving School at La Banca de Italia in Rome she amazed her instructors. After only three years Ms. Lozano was producing por- traits that would take most ap- prentice engravers an additional two or three years to execute. At her home, with a recording of Claudio Arrau, one of her fa- vorite pianists (and mine, too) in the background, I took partic- ular notice of two of her en- graved portraits: Ernest Hemingway and Ms. Lozano's sister Orelia. The latter is an ar- tistic expression of love for a sister who is an archeologist and designer of jewelry. The portrait of her sister captures the beauty which the camera could not do. Beauty seems to be a family trait. The Hemingway portrait was en- graved for the U.S. Postal Service, and appears on one of their panels made for collectors. Other subjects Armandina en- graved for U.S. Postal panels in- clude a female ice-skater, a male ski jumper, four hockey players, and sports legends Knute Rockne and Lou Gehrig. The portrait of Jenny Craig, engraved for the company stock certificate that bears the same name, is one of Armandina's re- cent security portraits. She con- tinues to engrave additional portraits for other stock certi- ficates. The collecting of can- celed bonds and stock certific- ates continues to attract collectors. Consequently, within the next year or two you should be able to purchase examples of her work on stock certificates as they appear in the inventory of dealers who specialize in these items. Although other topics entered our conversations, engraving was the paramount subject. The passion she has for this art form, which can be traced to the mid-15th century age of Gutenberg, becomes contagious. As one who studies the art of engraving, and becomes excited when viewing excellent workmanship, I must admit that I had trouble sleeping after studying the portraits of Ernest Hemingway and Armandina's sister Orelia. Nevertheless, we met the next day to continue our discussion of engraving. Later, in an Italian restaurant, I was not surprised to discover that Armandina was also fluent in Italian. Over dinner, among Page 84 Paper Money Whole No. 165 The portraits of Ernest Hemingway and Lou Gehrig were engraved for U.S. Postal Panels. Ms. Lozano considers this portrait of her sister Orelia as one of her best engravings. This handsome portrait of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, who discovered California in 1542, was engraved by Arman- dina Lozano in 1984. other subjects, she spoke of the high standards demanded by her multi-lingual parents whose ancestry can be traced to pre- Moorish Spain. Armandina wears a gold ring that bears the family crest. During our last meeting we spoke about her other artistic en- deavors. Armandina paints in all mediums. With one excep- tion she had only photographs of her work; it seems her paintings sell as fast as she creates them. Armandina feels that some of her best work consists of a series of 12 bold paintings of boxers. She was quick to say that she was not attracted to pu- gilism because of the violence, but found an anatomical dia- logue between the two figures that was a natural subject for her canvas. I forgot to ask Armandina if she sculpts—she probably does. Armandina Lozano also practices in another artistic medium she is called upon as an art director for films. Two of about six films she has been associated with are Dolores Mission, done for Universal Studios and the Minister's Wife, an independent production. She could work in this capacity more than she does, but her first love, engraving, commands the attention of Paper Money Whole No. 165 Page 85 a jealous lover. This prompted me to say to Armandina that in my opinion most men would probably be intimidated by her. I interpreted the blush that came over her face to be an affir- mation. Knowing of my background as a jazz trombonist, and as a demonstration of her eclectic musical taste, Armandina selected a recording of the legendary Miles Davis sextet as back- ground for our last meeting. She was anxious to tell me that within a few years she hopes to complete a series of engraved portraits of some legendary jazz musicians. I asked her how long it takes to engrave a portrait. The por- traits for the U.S. Postal Service, she said, take less time than do subjects for paper money and other security instruments. Por- Armandina Lozano. She has engraved the principle portions of bank notes for at least three foreign governments; and, as previ- ously mentioned, stock certificates issued during the past ten years can be attributed to Maney, as her friends call her. As I left Armandina I noticed a book of Chopin Etudes on her piano. Somehow I knew the answer would be yes when I asked if she played piano. At one time she also studied dance. Arman- dina Lozano is the consummate artist. The apprenticeship for a security portrait engraver is about ten years; Armandina completed her apprenticeship in less time. She defied those, including some instructors, who said she would never be accepted in the security engraving commu- nity, an extremely specialized creative field that has historically The shier and ce-shater were also engraved for U.S. Postal Panels. traits for stock certificates and paper money, due to their com- plexity, take longer to execute. Nevertheless, what takes most engravers ten to twelve weeks to complete, this talented woman often does in less time. I was surprised when Armandina demonstrated how she commences to engrave. From a photograph it is customary for the engraver to make an outline-tracing of the subject to be en- graved with a needle-like instrument onto a transparent sur- face. These lines are filled with a red powder and the tracing is placed on the plate, which has been covered with wax. The image is now reversed. With a sharp point the engraver follows the red lines to make contact with the plate. Etching acid se- cures these lines while the rest of the plate is protected by the wax. Armandina does not use powder; she merely presses the outline onto the waxed surface. She also skips the etching acid procedure. It is her opinion that the lines are cleaner if one does not use etching acid. After the outline is made on the plate, the wax is removed and she begins the detailed work of engraving a variety of lines. These lines—some shallow, some deep—are combined to create a three-dimensional effect. The individual method adopted by Ms. Lozano probably reduces the total engraving time by at least three days. The United States priority and express mail postage stamps reflect our need for rapid communication. Although only the heads of the eagles on both are engraved, they are the work of been dominated by men. She shares common traits with the strong-willed nun, Juana Ines de la Cruz, who was born in Mexico in 1651, and who expressed her feminine individuality and that of other women through writing and poetry; her por- trait was selected to grace the Mexican 1,000 peso in 1978, the year Ms. Lozano began her engraving career with El Banco de Mexico. I would estimate there are about 30-45 security portrait en- gravers in the world, and as stated previously, only a few are women. Armandina Lozano is currently recognized as one of the outstanding female portrait engravers, the only one to have worked in the United States. Within this decade, among all security engravers, she will be ranked as one of the best in the world. ■ Read Money Mart miiq 111. 1.J1i i il9111 , 1 1 11 I I Page 86 Paper Money Whole No. 165 "A funny thing happened yesterday. A nice looking fellow came in and washed his hands and went away leaving his overcoat." The Story of "Cranky Tom" Hale, And How He Was Captured by John Murray Submitted by BOB COCHRAN Torn Hale was a well-known counterfeiter in the nineteenth century. At the time these events took place, John Wilson Murray was employed as a detective with the Erie, Pennsylvania Police Department. The story of Tom Hale is quoted from Memoirs of the United States Secret Service, by Captain George P. Burnham. The capture of Tom Hale by John Murray comes from Memoirs of a Great Detective. Incidents in the Life of John Wilson Murray. The accounts of Hale's arrest differ significantly in the two sources. Both accounts place his arrest at about the same time, early in 1870. Burnham places Hale in Ohio at the time of his arrest, and implies that he was taken into custody by U.S. Secret Service agents. As the title of this article states, Murray recounts his personal experience in placing Hale under arrest in Erie, Pennsylvania. Burnham states that the counterfeit currency in question was 50-cent U.S. fractional currency notes; Murray lists other notes found in Hale's possession. "Cranky Tom" Hale T OM Hale was born in 1836, in Saratoga County, NY. His parents died when he was thirteen, and Tom was taken in by a kindly aunt. His aunt owned a large and valu- able farm in Saratoga County, and she personally saw to the farm's day-to-day activities. Tom was brought up in relative comfort, and his aunt helped him to receive a good education. When he was seventeen, Tom was placed in charge of running much of the farm for his aunt. Tom often had occasion to visit the Saratoga County Bank to deposit money and to draw checks and drafts in his aunt's be- half. After a few years, Tom's aunt turned the whole farm busi- ness over to him. Sadly for her, it wasn't long after this that Tom robbed her. One day he forged her signature to a check for $300. The forgery was so good that it passed for genuine, and he obtained the money from the bank. He then collected about $200 that was owed to his aunt and left for New York City. Tom gravitated to the "shady" side of the city, and he was soon a leader among the thieves and rogues, planning and ex- ecuting daring robberies. His sudden departure from Saratoga County aroused suspicion, and the forged check was discov- ered. He was captured and tried, and upon his conviction he was sent to the State Prison at Clinton for a term of three years. When he was released he immediately resumed his habits in New York City. Hale developed an affinity for gambling, and as much as he was able to obtain by theft he lost at the poker table. One of his favorite hangouts was a bar at 16 East Houston Street, operated by Ike Weber, a known counterfeiter. Tom took a position as bartender in the establishment to oc- cupy his spare time. "Cranky Tom" Hale, Counterfeiter He got his nickname thusly—whenever the authorities attempted to obtain a photograph of him, he would "crank" his fa- cial features from normal, altering his appearance. It didn't take Tom long to become involved with the counter- feiters who frequented Weber's bar. Ike Weber produced coun- terfeits of the 25 and 50 cents U.S. postal currency (fractional currency issued from August 21 to May 27, 1863) and Hale was part of the group getting it into circulation. Tom became a wholesaler of Weber's later counterfeit U.S. fractional notes, and one of his dealers was "Pious" John Dis- browe. Disbrowe would go out into the "West" (as virtually any area west of Philadelphia was known then) and establish "agencies," and Hale would then send him the counterfeits to disburse as fast as they could be manufactured. (Burnham describes Disbrowe as "a pimp of the first water. He was osten- sibly an active, prominent member of a Methodist Church in New Jersey, leader of a choir, and the head of a nice family. He could exhort and whine, and psalm-sing the leg off a brass monkey) Disbrowe disposed of the counterfeits to the ped- dlers, who "shoved" them generously along the lines of the rail- roads in every direction. RECEIVARLF FOR ALL UNITED STATES STAMPS Paper Money Whole No. 165 Page 87 •7 Eir,„ ko A R E C IVA .1:E I, R ALL IS ri:OrsTATLs sT,vmps W," A good candidate for the counterfeit 50 cent U.S. Fractional Currency notes Tom Hale was selling to his dealers and shovers. These impressions appeared in various editions of Heath's Infallible Govern- ment Detector. The top note is genuine, the bottom note is a counterfeit; the counterfeit plate for this note is attributed to William Brockway, a known associate of Ike Weber, who supplied counterfeit notes to Tom Hale. According to Burnham, a "shover" was arrested, and he told the authorities that he had received the counterfeit notes from John Disbrowe. Disbrowe was arrested in Detroit, and he promptly told the police that Tom Hale in New York was his source of notes. A plan was developed (ostensibly by the Secret Service) to get Tom Hale to come out "West" with a supply of counterfeit notes, where he could be captured. Under direction of the authorities, Disbrowe wrote to Hale that he wanted $3,000 of the counterfeit fractional currency at once, and if Hale would bring it out personally Disbrowe would pay him a premium in "good" money for it, plus a part of his profits al- ready in hand. Burnham states that Hale took the bait, and started from New York with $3,500 in counterfeit 50-cent U.S. fractional currency notes (some seven thousand pieces). He was leery of traveling all the way to Detroit however, and arranged to meet an associate in western Pennsylvania, near the Ohio state line. The associate was to convey the counterfeits to Disbrowe. For some reason the associate failed to make the meeting (Bumham implies that the Secret Service had a hand in the as- sociate's failure) and Hale proceeded into Ohio, where he was arrested. He was then taken to Pittsburgh where he was charged with uttering and dealing in counterfeit money. POKE SOLES, TOM HALE AND JOHN MURRAY (The following account is quoted from the biography of John Murray.) Poke Soles was a "shover of the queer': An episode of his life occurred at Erie (Pennsylvania), which reveals now for the first time the story of Tom Hale, a counterfeiter, who subsequently was a side-member of the United States Secret Service. Poke's duties as a shover of the queer [or counterfeit] were to pass counterfeit money. "In the winter of 1869 and 1870 some $20 bills that were queer appeared in Erie," says Murray. "Fred Landers kept a res- taurant in Erie, and one day I happened to drop in, and he told me of a fellow who had been in and ordered a light lunch and paid for it with a $20 bill, and who bought a drink as he went out and offered a second $20 bill to the bartender, who said he could not change it. I looked at the bank-note Landers had taken. It was a clever one, but it was queer. My experience with counterfeiters in the special services of the United States was of instant value. Landers described the man. I spotted him at the railroad station and got him, but did not find any of the stuff or counterfeit money on him. He was simply a shover, one who passed the money, and he received only a couple of $20 bills at a time. Page 88 Paper Money Whole No. 165 "Few classes of crime are organized so scientifically as coun- terfeiting. The man who makes the plates never does business with the men who pass the money. The plate-maker is an en- graver who usually gets a lump sum for his work. Those who print the money are the manufacturers and they sell the queer in wholesale quantities to dealers, who sell to retail dealers, who have their shovers out passing the money. The man I got was a shover. I locked him up and in searching him I found the name 'Tom Hale, New York: I reported to Crowley [Murray's boss] and sent a telegram addressed to Hale and reading: 'Come on. I am sick. Stopping at Morton House. Room 84! "I made all arrangements with the hotel clerk to get track of any one who called and asked for the man in room 84. No one came. I kept the shover, whose name was Soles, locked up in gaol. Landers and the bartender had identified him. A week passed. It was the winter of 1870 and the trains were blockaded and it snowed and blew and delayed all traffic. On the ninth day a nice looking man walked into the Morton House. It was bitter cold and yet he had no overcoat. He asked for Mr. Soles in room 84. 1 was in the hotel at the time; the clerk tipped me and I walked over and collared the stranger. I took him down and searched him and locked him up. He had several hundred dollars of good money on him, but no counterfeit money. I in- tended to hold him while I hunted for his baggage, for at least a man dressed as he was, would have an overcoat somewhere near. "The next morning Officer Snyder and I went to the railroad station and began, from there, a systematic search for a trace of the stranger's overcoat. In the morning we were in the habit of stepping into John Anthony's German saloon for a mug of beer. On that morning Anthony said: 'A funny thing happened yesterday. A nice looking fellow came in and washed his hands and went away leaving his overcoat! "'Let me see it, John, said I. "Anthony produced the coat. In the first pocket in which I thrust my hand I found a roll of something wrapped in a hand- kerchief. I drew it out and found $1,000 in counterfeit $20 and $100 bills, with coupons attached to the ends. They were such excellent counterfeits that I later passed one at a bank as a joke and then told them of it. I took the coat to the lockup. "'Hello, Hale; here's your coat', I said. "'All right. Thank you said the stranger, who was Tom Hale. "I said: 'That's your coat, Tom?' "'Oh, yes, said he. "Then I hauled out the counterfeit money from the pocket. He then said it was not his coat. I made him put the coat on and it fitted him perfectly. Then John Anthony identified him as the stranger who had left the coat in his saloon. "Soles was held for passing counterfeit money. He pleaded guilty and was sent to Alleghany [Prison] for five years. The United States authorities took Hale to Pittsburgh, then to New York, and then to Washington!' Mr. Wood, then the Chief of the Secret Service, felt that Hale would be valuable in fingering some of the manufacturers and large dealers in counterfeit currency in New York. Hale promised faithfully to aid the Government officials, and he clearly understood that if he didn't cooperate he would be returned to Pennsylvania to stand trial. When Colonel Whitely was appointed Chief of the Secret Service (replacing Wood), he looked into this and other pending cases, and quickly ascertained that "Cranky Tom" had not performed his promises to the Government, but on the contrary had been allowed to run free, by connivance with the old officers (of the Secret Service), and was then actually in the counterfeiting business again. Col. Whitely promptly arrested him, and sent him to Pittsburgh where he was permitted to withdraw his former voluntary plea of "guilty." A new trial was accorded him, at the instance of the new Chief of the Division. (Murray states that when Whitely sent for Hale and told him he was doing nothing, "Hale practically told Colonel Whitely to go to hell!') His trial came before Judge McCandless of the Western Dis- trict of Pennsylvania, in October 1870. In the course of "Cranky Tom's" trial, it was shown that he had been arrested in another district (Erie), and a motion was made by the defense to quash the indictment against him, on the ground of non-jurisdiction of the court at Pittsburgh. But the U.S. Dist. Attorney, H. Bucher Swoope, Esq., claimed that it had also been already shown upon the evidence that Hale had passed through the State of Pennsylvania with this counterfeit money in his possession; and he asked the jury, by their verdict, to assert that the state should not be made a highway for the conveyance of counter- feit money, anywhere. Tom's lawyer, in closing for the defense, maintained that his client was not guilty, as set forth in the indictment against him. "What is he here for, then?" pertinently inquired the Judge. "It is sufficient that he is here, and that the heinous charges against him are fully supported by plenary proof' Tom was speedily convicted and sentenced to ten years' im- prisonment in the penitentiary at Alleghany City. He was also to pay a fine of $2500; Hale was to stay committed until the fine was paid. Murray provides us with the final word on Tom Hale: 'The last time I saw Tom Hale was about 1884. He was keeping a dime lodging house on the Bowery in New York at that time. He fared far worse in his sentence than did Poke Soles who stood up like a man when he was caught and did his time. I un- derstood Hale never set foot in Erie again and vowed he never would. The most disappointed man was John Anthony, when the owner of the overcoat was found and the $1,000 turned out to be queer!' (Note: The $100 notes "with coupons attached to the ends" re- ferred to by Murray as having been found in Tom Hale's over- coat are quite interesting. The description applies only to the three-year interest-bearing notes, which were issued under the Acts of July 17, 1861, June 30, 1864 and March 3, 1865. These notes were the only United States issues which had coupons at- tached to the notes. The coupons were used to collect the in- terest on the notes at six-month intervals, and the last installment of interest was collected upon presentation of the note itself. Because the interest was payable to the bearer of the note rather than to an individual, these notes circulated as did the other legal tender notes of the period. However, these notes created some problems for the Treasury Department; ac- cording to a December 1864 report from Secretary Fessenden, "though withdrawn to a certain extent while the interest is maturing, they are liable to be periodically rushed upon the markee'These comments would no doubt refer to the northern public's confidence in the Union as the Civil War raged. Many of the three-year interest-bearing notes were withdrawn and replaced with the compound interest notes of the Act of June 30, 1864. Further, the interest accrued on the last issue of three- year interest-bearing notes ceased on July 15, 1868. Since these notes were worth more than their face value at the time of this Paper Money Whole No. 165 Page 89 story (1870), a person holding one was, in effect, losing money by not redeeming the note. As of July 1, 1869 there were some $1,201,400 in these notes outstanding, consisting of $34,900 of the 1861 notes and $1,166,500 of the 1864 notes. These totals notwithstanding, it would seem to be at least unusual for anyone to be holding these notes as late as 1870. Detective Murray's comment about passing the counterfeit note (and we assume he left the coupons attached) as a joke should not go unnoticed. In retrospect we would think that the bank per- sonnel would express some curiosity over the note. Although Murray is quite specific in his description of the "$100 bills with the coupons attached to the ends;' none of the several contemporary and later counterfeit detectors consulted mention the $100 three-year interest-bearing notes as having been counterfeited successfully.) SOURCES: Burnham, Capt. G.P. (1872). Memoirs of the United States Secret Service. Boston: Lee & Shephard. Burnham, Capt. G.P. (1879). American Counterfeits. How Detected, and How Avoided. Boston: A.W. Lovering. Friedberg, R., Friedberg, A.L. I.S. (Eds.). (1978). Paper Money of the United States. Iola, WI: Krause Publications (for the Coin and Cur- rency Institute, NY). Knox, J.1. (1978). United States Notes. New York: Sanford J. Durst Numis- matic Publications. Second Edition, Revised. Ordway, N.G. (1869). American Bond Detector. Washington, D.C. Speer, V. (Ed.). (1905). Memoirs of a Great Detective. Incidents in the Life of John Wilson Murray. New York: Baker and Taylor Company. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: Thanks to Fred F. Angus, for providing me with excerpts from the book about Murray. Thanks to Eric P. Newman and the Eric P. Newman Numismatic Education Society, for providing access to the copy of American Counterfeits. Thanks to Ron Horstman for providing information about the three-year interest-bearing notes from the American Bond Detector. C•cv()