COINERS CORNERED

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 153, 7 October 1910, Page 3

COINERS CORNERED

DRAMATIC AI;KK T BY THE LONDON POLICE. A BIG HAUL. The London police on a recent Saturday made an important seizure of plant for making base coin, the outfit of the coiners being of a particularly complete character. j Detective-Inspector Gough, of Bow' street, and Detective-Inspector Ferrett, of Stuke Newington, went shortly after uoon with a number of constables in plain clothes to Baldwin Terrace, Is iington. Here the force divided into two portions, one led by Inspector i Gough and the other by Inspector Fer-1 ret, one detachment going to the from and the other to the back of one of the sural, houses. Detective-Inspector Gough knocked at the front door, which was opened by a, female, who at once tried to close it again. The attempt was frustrated by the inspector, who, pushing past her, followed by three of his men, made his way quickly through the passage to a back room. CAUGHT IN THE ACT. Almost at the same moment Detec-tive-Inspector Ferret and his assistant entered by the back door and made their way to a room upstairs. Here they seized p. man who was engaged h. baking some plaster-of-paris moulds. The man tried to rush past the police as tiiey entered the room, but was secured after a short struggle on the stairs. In the meantime in the back room, Detective-Inspector Gough had secured a man in the very act of pouring melted metal into a freshly-prepared mould. In his surprise the fellow dropped the mould, which was shattered, but on examination proved to be one for the manufacture of crown pieces. This prisoner was with the other one taken tithe police station in Upper street by four of the plain-clothes men while the inspectors and otlrer men left behind proceeded to make a systematic search of the premises. A PERFECT PLANT. Their efforts were rewarded by tht? discovery of a perfect coining plant and a quantity of spurious five-shilling ana two-shilling pieces. The coins were found in a cupboard, each carefully wrapped in tissue-paper, with a view to keeping their surface bright until the time came for passing them. On the fire in one of the rooms was a meltingpot half full of molten "metal, evidently prepared from a lot of pewter scrap : which was discovered near by, and consisted mainly of broken-up fragments: of pots such as publicans use. In a| cupboard in the same room was found, a number of moulds, mostly for the. manufacture of spurious half-crowns. At the bottom of the same cupboard! was an electro-plating battery of the j most up-to-date construction, a quantity of silver sand and whitening andj buff-leathers used in polishing. In another room were 'found, more, moulds, a quantity o! plaster of park, and an apparatus for milling the edges of the finished coins;also a number of fine files, buffing-cloths, cyanide of potassium, and other adjuncts used by coiners in the exercise of their nefarious profession.