Glasgow Coiner
by J.E. Muddock

ONE afternoon a woman who kept a small shop in the neighbourhood of the Central Station, Glasgow, entered the office in a state of excitement and indignation, and, flinging down a florin on the table, she exclaimed -

"There's a bad two-shilling piece that's been passed on me, and it's the second one in a month, and some of my neighbours have been bitten in the same way It's just shameful that puir folk should be robbed like that, and it wouldna be if you police did your duty. We pay police taxes for you, and, instead of just walking aboot the streets daein' naething, it wad be mair tae your credit if you were lookin' after the thieves and blackguards what prey on puir folk like me."

The good lady, having let out her abuse of the unfortunate police, and exhausted herself, paused to take breath, and then the officer politely requested her to sit down and cool herself lest she should become ill. And when, all unconscious of the irony, she had complied with the request, he proceeded to examine the coin which she had tossed on the table. It was an exceedingly good imitation of a florin on the face of it, although it would not bear critical examination, while its sounds were so dull and leaden when it was rung that the wonder was anybody should have been deceived by so obvious a fraud. This was pointed out to the irate female, but it only served to arouse her to still stronger outbursts of temper and abuse of the police, and she demanded to know what the police were for if they were not to protect poor people from being cheated. She also demanded to have a genuine two-shilling piece given to her for the bad one; and when she was informed that no provision was made by the authorities for such an expenditure, she relieved herself of another volley of indignant expletives, and finally took herself off, carrying the spurious coin with her.

It so happened that we had received various complaints for some time about the circulation of false money, but fortunately they had not all been accompanied by the abuse which the lady in question thought proper to hurl at the heads of the police. We had caused notices to be inserted in the papers, cautioning people that false coins were in circulation, but of course it was impossible to entirely stop the passing of those which had already got into the hands of the public. An honest tradesman would, when he got a bad coin, prevent its going out again by destroying it, or sending it in to the authorities; but less scrupulous people, finding themselves victimized, would endeavour to palm the money off on somebody else. And as we thought that this had been the case with the abusive female who imagined that the authorities ought to recoup any one who had accepted bad money, we did not take any special steps in the matter.

I need scarcely say, perhaps, that a certain amount of bad money is always being circulated throughout the country, and if any one is caught in the act of wilfully passing spurious coin the punishment is pretty severe. But perfectly innocent and honest people may tender such coins without knowing that they are bad, and it follows, as a matter of course, that some one in the end must suffer a loss. The difficulty always in these cases is to trace the origin of the coins. That they have been fraudulently made goes without saying, and equally certain is it that they have been wilfully sent into circulation, but to detect the illicit manufacturer is a most difficult matter. Very frequently he is a man of some capital, and, knowing the risks he runs if caught, he is careful to surround himself with such safeguards as he possibly can, and he carries on his trade by means of accomplices upon whom he can thoroughly rely.

In the Glasgow case I am dealing with we had no reason to believe that the coins that had been passing about were the result of any direct attempt then to foist a quantity of had money on the public. We considered that they were simply fugitive pieces that had probably been in circulation a long time.

However, soon after we had been honoured with the visit of the lady who was so angry with the police, complaints became so frequent that I was requested to give some attention to the matter, and find out if the coins were being made in Glasgow or not. I therefore obtained a number of the coins, and had them carefully examined by an expert. They proved to be singularly good imitations, and while some were dull and heavy in sound, others rang well, and were in every way calculated to deceive the unwary-They were mostly florins, shillings, and sixpences, these being the coins affected by coiners, who seldom attempt to imitate gold owing to the difficulties in the way thereof. As most of the false money we were enabled to secure was new or nearly new, it was manifest that it had not been long in circulation, and the question to determine was, Where had it come from?

A long time had passed since any systematic attempt had been made in Glasgow to foist bad money on the public. I had succeeded in clearing out a gang of coiners, as I have detailed in one of my previous books, and since then we had not been troubled. But now it could not be doubted that coiners were at work again, and the thing was to unearth them, and stop their nefarious practices.

For several weeks I kept my eyes open, but without result, except that complaints from Glasgow itself pretty well ceased, which showed that the rascals had got wind that the authorities were stirring, and they were holding their hands as far as the city was concerned. But soon reports came from surrounding villages, and also from Paisley and Greenock, that bad money was being passed, and that a good many tradesmen had suffered severely. This seemed corroborative of the view held that the manufactory was in Glasgow or not far off, and I tried various methods to get on the scent, but without avail. The consequence was I came to the conclusion that, owing to the way the secret was kept, very few people were in possession of it. Probably it was confined to one family, who took good care that their affairs should not become known. So matters went on until I almost began to despair of capturing the criminals.

One day, however, it chanced that an old man went into a tobacconist's shop in Sauchiehall Street, and, having purchased three ounces of tobacco and some pipes, he tendered a two-shilling piece, which the shopkeeper tossed into his till, gave the necessary change, and the man went out. He had not been gone, however, more than a minute before a neighbouring tradesman came in to get change for a sovereign, and amongst the change handed to him was the two-shilling piece. There was something about it that led him to examine it. Perhaps he was a little more 'cute than his brother-trader, any way he sounded it on the counter, and then said he was sure it was bad. The tradesman looked at it, and with a little effort broke it clean in halves by the mere pressure of his fingers. Leaving his neighbour in the shop, he rushed out and succeeded in overtaking the old man who had bought the tobacco, and he accused him of having knowingly passed a bad coin. But the old fellow became furious with indignation; abused the shopkeeper very much; threatened to have him fined for damaging a legitimate coin of the realm; and ended finally by giving the man the price of the tobacco and pipes in genuine money.

It happened that during the altercation between the old man and the shopkeeper a policeman came up and inquired the cause of the disturbance, and when he was told, he asked the shopkeeper if he was willing to give the old fellow into custody, but he declined to take the responsibility of this, for the man seemed so indignant and so sincere that there was the probability he was correct when he said that he himself had received the coin in some change. And so the shopkeeper, having got his money, was content to let the matter drop, and he went back to his shop. But the policeman was not quite so satisfied about the old man's honesty, for he recognized in him a fellow who had been in prison several times, and who was known amongst his class as Dumpy Dick, owing to his being slightly hump-backed, his real name being Richard Fleming. As the policeman had no charge against him, he could not take him into custody, and Dick went away growling and grumbling, and vowing that he would have the law of any one who dared to asperse his honesty.

This incident was reported to me, and I resolved to look into Mr. Richard Fleming's history, and by dint of patient investigation I found that he had commenced life as a tinsmith and plumber, and for some years had been in business on his own account. He fell into difficulties ultimately, and went into the Bankruptcy Court; and having attempted to defraud his creditors out of some of their property, he suffered imprisonment, and on his release he joined the Navy as an artificer. But after three years' service he was discharged for misconduct, and returned to his native town, Glasgow. It was not long after his return before he again got into trouble through obtaining goods under false pretences, and for that bit of business he suffered a term of imprisonment. Subsequently, he was again imprisoned for a desperate assault on a woman with whom he lived.

It will thus be seen that Mr. Dumpy Dick's record was not of a nature to inspire one with confidence in his integrity- Moreover, his associates were of a character no respectable man would have cared to be identified with; and altogether Dumpy Dick was looked upon as a somewhat notorious character. Ostensibly he made his living by keeping a little shop in a street off the Saltmarket, where he sold and bought old pots and pans, second-hand gas-fittings, and the like.

At this time Dumpy Dick was well advanced in years, being upwards of sixty-five; but he was a hale and apparently hearty man, notwithstanding that he indulged a good deal in strong drink.

Having learnt so much about Dick, I resolved to keep an eye upon him; but I saw nothing that really warranted me in supposing that he was manufacturing false coins. But that he was a thorough-paced rascal I had not a doubt. I learnt, too, that his expenditure must be largely in excess of his takings in his shop, and of course I asked myself where he got his money from. I was convinced from his style and character that it was not got honestly, and that he must be engaged in some transactions that were more profitable than his shop, which, I felt sure, was kept up merely as a blind. Dumpy was married, his partner being his junior by at least twenty-five years. It was said that he had been married four or five times, and had a numerous family - so the rumour ran - but nobody seemed to know where the members of his family were. His wife was a buxom, rather good-looking woman, but with a cast of countenance and a general expression not calculated to inspire any one with confidence who had the slightest pretensions to judge character from the face. She gave one an idea that she was as cunning as a fox and as deep as a well. At least, that was the opinion I formed of her. But I resolved to try and trap her into some admissions that might be of value to me in my endeavours to read her husband's secrets, for that he had secrets which he did not deem it advisable should be generally known I was convinced.

Choosing an hour when I knew Mr. Dumpy Dick was absent, I waited upon his good lady in the character of one who was desirous of doing business which was not of a nature which the police would have considered legitimate.

"Is the governor at home?" I asked.

"No," was the somewhat surly answer. "What do you want with him?"

I affected to be disconcerted by her brusque manner, and looking askance I answered -

"Well, mistress, my business with him is private."

She eyed me keenly as she said -

"I know all his affairs. It would be a bad job for him if I didn't, so if you have anything to say you can tell me."

"I would rather not," I responded shyly.

"Then what do you come bothering here for? Take yourself off."

"All right, mistress, but you needn't jump down my throat as though I had done you an injury. I simply wanted to see if I could do a trade with the old man."

I saw that her curiosity was aroused, and she gazed at me as if she was trying to read my thoughts. But hers was not a steady gaze; she looked at one furtively, and in a manner that was by no means suggestive of a frank and candid nature.

"Where do you come from?" she asked suddenly.

"From Manchester."

"And what are you doing here?"

"Oh, I'm on the look-out for any job that turns up."

"Do you know my old man?"

"Yes."

"Have you ever done any business with him?"

"No"

"Then how is it you've come to him now?"

"Well, mistress, it's this way. I was recommended to him by a pal in Manchester."

She paused, having fired off her string of questions, and again she eyed me in that peculiar, furtive way. And presently she said in a confidential tone -

"Now, look here, you tell me what your business is."

"I'd rather not, mum. I'd like to see the governor."

This reply angered her, and she exclaimed.

"You fool! haven't I told you that I know all his affairs, and what you've got to tell you can tell to me?"

I seemed to hesitate, and appeared undecided, but at last remarked -

"You see, mum, I don't know whether I'd be right in telling you."

She became more irritated at this, my object being to irritate her, as I thought that in that condition she would be less guarded.

"You're an idiot!" she rasped out, with an angry hiss.

"Thank you, mum."

"So you are, or you wouldn't stand there beating about the bush like that."

"Well, you see, missus, a poor chap like me cannot be too cautious. One never knows when the traps will be down on one, and I don't want to be lagged."

This fetched her, as I anticipated it would, and she gave herself away by the remark -

"If you've got anything to plant, you're safe here, I tell you. So open up, and let's know what it is."

"Well, you seem all right," I answered, and feeling elated as I saw that she was fluttering into the web I had spread for her. "I suppose I can trust you," I added.

Here I dived into the pocket of my coat and produced a common tin tobacco-box, from which I took four spurious florins, each one carefully wrapped up in tissue paper. Opening the paper that enveloped them, I held one before her and asked -

"Do you think the old man will do a trade in these things?"

Perhaps I need scarcely tell the reader that these counterfeit coins were some that I had obtained from different sources in the course of my investigations, and of course I had no intention of letting her have them.

I noted that my lady's eyes opened with some surprise, and she said -

"It's dangerous to show these things here. Come in the back room."

She was fairly netted now, I thought, for this was practically an admission that she knew all about the business, and was familiar with spurious coins. The conversation up to this moment had been carried on in the shop; but now she led the way to a back apartment shut off from the shop by a half-glazed door that was screened by a muslin curtain. As soon as we reached the room, and she had closed the door, she took the coins from me and examined them carefully by means of a magnifying-glass, and having done so, she turned to me and asked -

"Where did you get these things from?"

"I got them in Manchester."

"Did you trade for them, or are you in the line?"

What she meant by asking me if I was in the line was, did I do the smashing myself. "Smashing" is a slang term used amongst the fraternity for coining.

"No; I'm not in the line, but a pal of mine is, and he's got the plant. I'm trying to do trade for him, and put something in my own way."

"Well, now, look here, cully," she said, with that vulgar familiarity peculiar to her class, "you'll have to keep your weather-eye open here, I tell you, for it's dangerous quarters. The cops in this town have got wind, and a blooming idiot named Donovan is smelling round like a ratter. If he gets on your track he'll make it hot for you, I tell you."

I took the coins up in a hurry, appeared to be very much disconcerted, and, as I thrust them into my pocket again, I said dolefully -

"Well, in these blooming times a cove can't live. If you're honest you starve, and if you ain't honest the cops come down on you like vultures. They don't give a fellow a chance now. I was recommended to your old man, and thought I might have done a trade and picked up a trifle for myself."

"I tell you we can't be too careful. The cops have got their eye on my man as it is, and he's not going to get lagged if he can help it. He likes to enjoy himself, he does, and one can't do that behind iron bars."

"That's true, missus," I said, with a whine. "But, there, it's no use a-taking up your time any more. Maybe, though, you can put me on a lay where I can part with the stuff."

"No, I don't know any one here," she answered, "unless you mug them on some shopkeeper yourself."

"That's risky," I said, "but I'll try it. Well, good day to you, mum, and I'm much obliged to you."

I opened the door, and was going out, when she cried -

"Stop a minute. How many of those things have you got?"

"I've got four with me."

"Well, I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll give you a shilling for them."

"No, mum, thank you," I answered, "it ain't good enough. I can do better than that. There are plenty of mugs in the town that will take 'em."

"Well, they are not worth more," she remarked. "The risk is too great, and if you take my advice you'll not try to trade them in Glasgow at all. The place is too hot. There's been a regular rumpus going on, and everybody have got their eyes opened. The shopkeepers look at every coin now that's offered them, and if they suspect the smasher it's all up, so you had better be careful."

I thanked her for her advice and left, highly delighted with the success of my little ruse, for I felt sure now that I should land Dumpy Dick, for I hadn't a doubt that he was a coiner, and the evidence I had got justified me in obtaining an order to search his premises. To my great astonishment my search resulted in nothing. That is, I found nothing, thorough as the search was, that justified the suspicion I entertained. Not a coiner's tool nor a spurious coin of any kind was found.

I was disappointed, but not daunted. The cunning of the rascal had enabled him to outwit me for the time, but from what had transpired between me and his wife, it was, to my mind, absolutely certain that both he and she were well acquainted with the unlawful calling, and I was resolved to get to the bottom of the mystery. Of course, Dumpy Dick crowed loudly at my discomfiture, and he and his wife expressed their feelings for me in language that made up in strength what it lacked in polish. But I was content to wait, feeling pretty sure that, sooner or later, the laugh would be on my side. Notwithstanding that I thought this, I have no hesitation in confessing that I was greatly puzzled about Dumpy, for I could not quite understand how it was he had managed to outwit me, for he certainly had outwitted me temporarily.

This idea having taken deep root in my mind, my vigilance, I need scarcely say, was redoubled, for I had no intention to rest quietly under my defeat. Whatever the mystery was, I was determined to solve it.

One evening, pretty late, and about two months after I had searched Dumpy Dick's premises, I was coming down Buchanan Street, when I overtook Dick, who was in front of me. He did not notice me, and it suddenly occurred to me to follow him. When he reached the end of Buchanan Street, where it joins Argyle Street, he waited and looked up and down, as if he was expecting somebody. Presently, he began to get restless, and paced to and fro with every manifestation of irritability. At last, he was joined by a woman, and the woman was his wife. They stood talking for a few moments, and then proceeded east, and I concluded that they were going to their home out of the Saltmarket. But in this I was mistaken. They held on their way along the Trongate for some distance, until suddenly they turned up a little street going north, and about midway stopped before an untenanted shop, the shutters of which were covered with bills of a miscellaneous character. The whole building indeed looked forlorn and dilapidated; and a board projecting from an upper story window announced the "house and shop to let." Dumpy Dick produced a key from his pocket, and having glanced around and up and down to see that no one was observing him, he opened the door of the empty house, and he and his wife went in, closing the door behind him.

"Now then," I thought, "I have solved the mystery."

I waited for fully an hour before they reappeared. T hen they turned their steps homewards, and I followed them to their residence. I could hardly help a chuckle as it occurred to me that at last I had run my man to earth.

The following morning I began to follow up the clue I had obtained, and I discovered to my surprise that the shop and premises were Dumpy Dick's property, and though he could have let them over and over again, he would not do so, and preferred, apparently, to let them fall into ruin. That in itself was a strongly suspicious circumstance, and quite justified me in the course I felt called upon to pursue, which was to obtain the necessary legal authority to enter the premises and make a search. Having obtained the authority, I proceeded with two colleagues to the house, but we had to force the door with a crowbar in order to gain admission. The shop itself contained a miscellaneous assortment of rubbish, consisting principally of old boxes and mouldy straw, from which emanated a damp, earthy smell like that of a tomb.

At the back of the shop was a large room, the windows of which were entirely blocked up with boards, and we had to procure candles. Then our trouble was well rewarded. The room was fitted up as a workshop, with every appliance and all the plant for carrying on the trade of coining There were moulds of all kinds, including some for sixpences, shillings, half-crowns, and five- shilling pieces. There were several bags of plaster of Paris, a number of clams, two or three hundredweights of bars of solder, a quantity of fine sand used by coiners for polishing, a bar of real silver, a very complete electric battery, a polishing board, a large assortment of files, a large bottle of nitric acid, and another of muriatic acid, delicately balanced scales in a glass case for weighing the coins, and various other tools and instruments used by smashers in their nefarious business. It was, in fact, the most complete coiner's plant I had ever managed to seize, and represented an outlay of capital of between two and three hundred pounds. There was nothing, in fact, wanting to enable the rascal to carry on his work, at which he was evidently no 'prentice hand.

But in addition to the working tools, there was stock-in-trade representing a very large sum. In one box we found, packed in cork-dust, one thousand two hundred and fifty florins. In another were five hundred shillings, and in another six hundred half- crowns. There was also a large box, nailed up and corded, ready to be despatched, and on it was a card bearing the name and address of a person in Birmingham. On opening this box we found spurious coins representing all the silver values with the exception of threepenny-pieces, and numbering several thousands. I ought also to mention that in one corner of the room was a proper furnace for melting metal, and the flue had been most artfully carried into a neighbouring chimney of a house that was occupied. The object of this was obvious. It was to prevent any suspicions being aroused by allowing the smoke to issue from the chimney of the untenanted house. Indeed, the whole arrangement of the place evidenced an amount of ingenuity and artfulness that was astonishing, and proved that Dumpy Dick had engaged in the business with a thoroughness that was rare in the annals of crime.

My first impulse was to remove all the things off the premises at once, but it suddenly occurred that it would be better, if possible, to take the rascal in flagrante delicto, and I gave orders that the things were to be restored to the order in which we had found them. The packed box of coins addressed to Birmingham made it pretty clear that it would not be long before Dumpy came to his workshop and sent the goods away to the person who was no doubt his agent, and whom I was anxious to net also, if possible. So we retired, and set a close watch on the premises. But it was not until the next evening that Dumpy turned up, accompanied by the "missus." They entered the house, and half an hour later two men arrived with a hand-cart and knocked at the door. Dumpy let them in, and presently they came out again bearing the box of coins addressed to Birmingham, and they carted it off to the railway station. I thereupon gave orders to one of my assistants to proceed by the next train to Birmingham, place himself at once in communication with the police there, and obtain a warrant to arrest the consignee of the box as soon as he received it.

Then I and my colleagues posted ourselves at the door of Dumpy's place and waited for developments. In the course of half an hour or so, his wife came out with only a shawl over her head, but we took no action then, as I felt sure that she was only going on some errand. But one of my men followed her, and she went to a public-house to get some whisky. When she returned and had opened the door with her latch-key, we pounced upon her to her utter amazement, and while one held her the rest of us rushed in.

We found Dumpy in his shirt-sleeves, and working like a nigger. He was busy packing coins, but the furnace was all aglow, and a cauldron of metal was heating ready for operations. It was clear that the fellow intended to work all night, for it was then nearly eleven o'clock, and on a table in the room were the necessaries for a very substantial supper, including a roast fowl.

For a moment Dick was struck dumb by the sudden and unexpected apparition of the officers of justice. Then he glanced about him very nervously as if in search of some weapon, but I pounced upon him, and in a few moments had him handcuffed. He made no struggle. He recognized that his game was up, and with a melancholy smile he said -

"I'm played out, and I own it. The game's yours."

"Yes," I answered, with keen satisfaction, "I've waited patiently for this moment, and patience is generally rewarded."

Recognizing as he did that the end had truly come, he submitted like a lamb that is being led to the slaughter. But not so his "better-half." She struggled and fought like a newly caught hyena, and we were compelled, though reluctantly, to handcuff her; and that done, the precious pair were conveyed to the station, and the next day all the plant was removed, a large wagon being necessary for the purpose. As I proceeded with the case and pursued my investigations, I recognized more fully the importance of my capture, for the revelations I was enabled to make were truly astonishing, and seemed more like a romance than reality. Not only had Dumpy Dick been engaged in coining for years, but the ramifications of his wicked trade extended over all the country, and he had agents and sub-agents in most of the principal towns of the kingdom.

The man in Birmingham to whom the box of coins was addressed turned out to be scarcely less notorious than Dumpy Dick himself. He had served a long term of penal servitude for forgery, and he was in the habit of buying the coins wholesale from Dumpy, and retailing them out to people who palmed them off on unsuspecting shopkeepers. We found that the price paid to Dumpy was about forty per cent. of the face value of the various coins, which, considering the risk he ran, and the capital he had invested, was not an extravagant price. The other sixty per cent. was, of course, divided between his wholesale and the retail customers. Neither Dumpy nor his wife ever attempted to pass the coins themselves. They were simply manufacturers, and supplied what might be termed the dealers. The whole transaction, in fact, was founded upon the strictest commercial lines, and organized with consummate skill and tact that was worthy of a better cause.

It only remains for me to say that by the day of trial I had such a mass of evidence at command that I was enabled to unfold one of the most startling and remarkable stories of crime that was ever told in a court of law. Of course the Mint authorities took the matter up, and in addition to the arch offenders - Dumpy Dick and his wife and their agent in Birmingham - we netted a good many of the smaller fry, and thoroughly broke up this desperate gang of coiners.

Dumpy's career was ended, as he was sent to prison for life, while his wife got off with seven years, and the Birmingham man with ten. I had the satisfaction of being highly complimented from headquarters for having trapped the offenders and put a stop to a most infamous trade. And even the good woman who had received the bad florin, and been so violent in her abuse of the police, admitted that they were of some use after all.

End of Glasgow Coiner by J.E. Muddock