Counterfeits, Carlos Jara And Belleville, NJ

OK. Done. One was for Brazil and South America - related. This sent.

The others are Canadian (Blacksmith Coppers) related IMO. Not sent.

All Belleville, NJ CC shipment articles.

JPL

When I purchased that coin (1833 Honduras Silvered Copper Host - Regal Type Edge) I showed you at the New York International it had on the dealers flip probably from NJ (20thC) which did not make sense based on the XRF analysis of high sulfur and other attributes making the coin's manufacture MORE within the period of a regal issue (i.e., early 19thC)= contemporary circulating counterfeit. In the interim I analyzed two others (1833 Honduras) from another collector and they are all the same with a copper host and regal edge with various levels of mercuric amalgam type silvering - I have the newspaper article on my desktop so will forward over tonight to the main MCC Contact E-Mail. Belleville, NJ also comes up often as a supply area for Canadian Tokens (both regal and counterfeit) as well in terms of copper/brass trade tokens being the regal side say for specific merchants ordering advertising tokens. This was the first reference I have seen of a large shipment of coppers being shipped to a counterfeit center for "eventual" South American/Central American distribution. The article indicates the raw copper host coins were made and then the silvering if needed was then applied at another location if required depending of the coin denomination and location in South American or Central America as the captured coins by the authorities "NONE" showed any silvering. A very informative and short newspaper article.

JPL

Check your E-Mail. Done.

Anyone else just E-Mail me. Ask for Belleville, NJ article.

JPL

Hello everyone! I'm a Belleville native who has been studying these coins on and off for about a year. I'd love to trade notes with John and anyone else who might have something to add.

I was not convinced that the 1833 Honduras issues were products of Belleville, but I admit I have not yet properly considered them.

My growing Belleville collection: http://www.forumancientcoins.com/ga...p?album=4970

Great to see other people interested in this area!

Is the article in question "Counterfeiting Days - A Belleville Business Which Was Once Legitimate" in the Newark Sunday Call, 2 June 1895? If so, its a perfect example of the yellow journalism that was common at the time, and should be taken with a large grain of salt. The highly embellished story is cribbed entirely from contemporary articles relating to the arrest and trial of Joseph Gardiner (Gardner), particularly "Coining Establishment Broken Up," in The Sentinel, 5 June 1835.

Gardiner was arrested by US Marshals on Monday, 1 June 1835 at his house in Belleville, "the last dwelling on the left side of the Newark and Belleville road before it enters the village." He was found to be in possession of numerous dies and die making tools, as well as two counterfeit 8 reales, other "spurious Spanish coin," dies for French 1831 5 Francs and Mexico City 1819 8 Reales, and a bag of Haitian coppers. The 30 November 1835 issue of the Newark Daily Advertiser gives a summary of the trial - Gardiner was charged with counterfeiting 5 Francs and Spanish 2 Reales, and seperately with counterfeiting head pistareens (peninsular Spanish 2 reales). He was acquited on the first charge, while the question of whether the head pistareens qualify as parts of a Federal dollar was carried to the Supreme Court. The January 1836 session of the high court decided that they did not (https://law.resource.org/pub/us/cas...S.618.html). I believe the pistareens in question are Kleeberg Group VII, but have not yet had a chance to pursue the matter further.

I've managed to identify quite a few issues from the Belleville establishment. Wesley Cox's punch study of the HTTs led to easy identification of those. He also tied the Canadian series in quite neatly. We know that Belleville struck some Brazilian coins, but I have not yet identified these. An 80 Reis overstruck on a Federal cent (Goldberg 51, lot 476) should provide the key to unlocking the series. Jacobs ("The Shadow Issues of the Belleville Mint," in Canadian Numismatic Journal, 1996) attempted to identify these, but I disagree with his methodology of simply attributing to the mint whatever the crudest counterfeits in the series are. This argument would apply to the blacksmiths as well. Gardiner and Gibbs were both highly skilled engravers and were unlikely to make anything so crude. Attribution of the Haitian issues faces the same problem that the Brazilians do, only magnified by a lack of a detailed study of the official issues. Here, the key will be the overstruck Boyer 50 Centimes (Heritage 3014, lot 24321 and ANS 1941.21.1).

I've PM'd John a link to my working catalog of Belleville issues. Anyone else who is interested can contact me.

One piece of proof I forgot to offer that Belleville struck Canadian tokens and issues for South America: in a letter dated 4 April 1839, JML Scovill wrote to WH Sovill, "He tells me Thomas & Stephens have in 4 years made over $100000.00 in stamping Canada & Nova Scotia tokens & Southern Coins @35c lb & are now full of orders for them."

The structure of the mint at Belleville is unclear, but it appears that Thomas & Stephens were the owners by the late 1830s.

John - I haven't received anything. To be clear, my email is Ardatirion as well.