THE BASE COIN FRAUD IN EGYPT.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LVI, Issue 6504, 31 December 1881, Page 5

THE BASE COIN FRAUD IN EGYPT.

A London paper says:—The criminals of the present day are quite equal to their predecessors in atrocity of act and fertility of resource, whilst the public show themselree as gullible and the police at least as incapable ae their predecessor*, A system of plunder ha* lately come to light which for mildness and originality of conception, skill in execution, and the magnitude of the evil which will result from ft* auoce**, will, we hope, long remain without a parallel. Some men of good position have lately been arrested at Geneva upon the extraordinary charge of having for about £0 years manufactured ba«e coin, which they and their confederate* have circulated in very large amounts in Egypt and other par ts of tbe Eaat, ae well as in Europe, The false pieces were made nominally ae women’s Ornament* | and, to disarm suspicion and avoid examination at custom-houses, they were declared boldly as “ bullion,” upon which the highest duty is charged. Tney were made of platinum, about a tenth below the regulation sixes, and then thickly gilt; and being well finished, and ia look, sue, .and weight up to the eastern standard, they did not attract advene attention. In Egypt, as in India, the ryots invest thsir savings in cams strung in necklaces, with which they ornament their wive* and danghton, and the fabricator* took advantage of this practice and sent (heir spurious work Into the country ae necklaces. However, about Bor 10 year* ago the Egyptian Government found that counterfeit money was coming into the country, bat the only effort to stop it was a prosecution which came to nothing (at which few who know the country will be surprised), and the work went on ae fast as ever. Finally, a clerk in the employ of the confederates at Geneva found out their secret, and demanded a share of the plunder, which being refused, in the belief that the law* of Geneva would not touch them, he went to Alexandra and enlightened the Egyptian Government, who soon took such energetic measures that several of the suspected parties have been arrested. The discovery of this plot has spread inch a panic that the Government will very likely be compelled' to issue a new coin to restore confidence, for the interior of tbe. country i* inundated with the counterfeit*.