FRAUD DISC FACTORY

Ellesmere Guardian, Volume LII, Issue 37, 8 May 1931, Page 8

FRAUD DISC FACTORY

RAIDS ON SLOT MACHINES.

Coiners of discs for operating automatic machines are doing a good business around London. A few weeks ago a man was sentenced for robbing slot machines by means of metal discs, but for one man caught j there are dozens using filed halfpennies, foreign coins, and discs who are not detected. The latest type of machine is so finely adjusted that it will not resipond to any coin other than a shilling or a sixpence. To overcome this [difficulty counterfeiters have been i turning out metal tokens of the I right size. There is said to be reason 'for believing that 7 a factory for manufacturing these counterfeit coins exists somewhere in the East End of London. "We have examples of these discs taken from our machines," said an official of an automatic machine company. "They are very cleverly made. They have milled edges, and their weight is exactly that of a shilling or a sixpence. A shopkeeper at Islington recently lost £4 worth of cigarettes in one night through someone working his machine with these discs. Another shopkeeper at Hounslow lost 30/- worth. These milled discs have been found in such quantities that they must be systematically manufactured." The wooden automatic machine often installed in hotels and boarding houses is also "raided." A 50----centime French coin with a hole in the centre is used. A string is passed through the hole, and the thief thus retains a hold on the coin, which he pushes far enough into the aperture to release the slot.