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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1861 | 1 |
| 1863 | 3 |
| 1864 | 1 |
| 1865 | 1 |
| 1872 | 1 |
| 1876 | 21 |
| 1877 | 13 |
| 1878 | 41 |
| 1879 | 1 |
| 1880 | 3 |
| 1882 | 5 |
| 1883 | 6 |
| 1884 | 3 |
| 1885 | 2 |
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| 1904 | 8 |
| 1907 | 1 |
| 1909 | 10 |
| 1910 | 2 |
| 1911 | 2 |
| 1916 | 2 |
209 stories matching coin
- The Flower Seller's Valise Held a Counterfeiter's Die
Z. M. Hawkins, who sold bouquets at Second and University, was held for trial after officers found a counterfeit dollar and a coin-making die—and a trail leading to a Mexican-dollar exchange in San Francisco.
- Silver Men Pack the Armory and Demand a Senator Who Won't Waver
Populists, Republicans and Democrats shared a Seattle stage to demand the legislature elect a 'free silver' U.S. senator — then a lawyer stole the show doing an impression of a rival orator.
- Spate of Counterfeit Gold Coins Hits Central Washington
Prosecuting Attorney Hnively warns Yakima business owners to exercise extreme caution as light-weight gold coins flood the region.
- The Hidden Hoard of Seattle's Pioneer Square
A rare coin discovery in 1888 offers a glimpse into the transient, globalized pockets of Seattle's earliest residents.
- The Counterfeit Gang of Port Townsend
A local variety theater manager and his associates operated a secret 'mint' to flood the Puget Sound region with fake gold, but their scheme was dismantled after laundering operations stretched to Seattle, Tacoma, and Utah.
- The Counterfeiters of Boren Avenue
A Secret Service investigation reveals a family-run forgery ring using 'secrets of wise men' and early forensic fingerprinting to manufacture bogus coins in Seattle and Tacoma.
- The Price of Early Seattle Prosperity
A sheriff’s notice reveals the fragile nature of early real estate speculation in King County.
- The Scandal of the City Fire Engine
A missing $300 in gold coin leads to a bitter political falling-out in 1878 Seattle, revealing the city's early struggles with public trust and municipal accounting.
- A Counterfeiter's Conscience: How the Salvation Army Led a Seattle Man to Turn Himself In
Thomas Gorman, an iron moulder, confessed to making and passing $190 in counterfeit coin after a religious conversion, telling authorities he didn't care about jail as long as his conscience was clear.
- The Mirror in the Half-Dollar: A Gambling Cheat's Downfall
A man arrested for theft in Seattle was found carrying a doctored coin designed to help him win at cards.
- The Wandering Numismatist
Police arrest a man from Fidalgo City carrying a century-old coin collection and a concealed weapon.
- A.A. Denny's Addition Property Sold for 1878 Judgments
A wave of sheriff's sales across King County in 1878 signals the brutal fallout of debt and property litigation in a young, boom-and-bust frontier city.
- The Sheriff's Auction of 1878
Public auctions at the King County courthouse reveal the financial fragility and land speculation common in early Seattle.
- The Foreclosure Auction: Snohomish’s Housing Crisis in 1876
As the Territory of Washington grapples with economic instability, three separate Sheriff's sales are scheduled for January 1877, putting local homes and land on the block for unpaid debts.
- The Counterfeiters of 1877
An expert assayer at the U.S. Mint offers local shopkeepers a masterclass in detecting 'whitish brass' counterfeits circulating in the Pacific Northwest.
- ‘Bought for Hard Gold Coin’: The Railroad Bill Dies in Olympia
The Helm railroad bill, passed by the House, was killed in the Senate. Newspapers across Washington condemned the railroad lobby and the senators who voted against lower freight rates.
- The Bullet and the Bankroll: A Saloon Feud on Pike Street
A Seattle land swindler survived an assassination attempt at the Abbott House, thanks to a well-placed $20 gold piece in his vest pocket.
- The Custom House Scandal: A Betrayed Deposit
A missing payment of gold coin in a shipping manifest sparks a corruption investigation in Port Townsend, shaking public faith in the local customs office.
- The Gilman Counterfeit Ring
Federal marshals catch two men in a Gilman boarding house, caught in the act of minting bogus coins by the light of a stove.
- The Mother-Son Counterfeiting Ring
A woman with a criminal past and her son are caught after operating a makeshift mint out of their homes in Des Moines and Tacoma.
- The Million-Dollar Ticket: How Seattle Bet Its Future on a Lottery
In 1876, the city’s most prominent businessman launched a massive lottery to fund a mountain road, offering a steam sawmill valued at $100,000 as the grand prize.
- The Counterfeiter of Tacoma
A notorious gang of spurious coin makers is finally apprehended in a remote Tacoma house, ending a long cross-state crime spree.
- The Coin Toss That Named Portland — and the Man Who Founded Port Townsend
A.M. Pettygrove comes back to the town he laid out in 1851, and the Argus retells how a flipped coin gave Portland its name, how a claim was sold for $5,000 in cash and leather, and how a Puget Sound bluff became a city.
- The Day Everett Lined Up at the Bank
In the Panic of 1907, rumor emptied Everett's savings accounts in an afternoon — until the bank stacked gold coin in the window.
- The City Treasurer’s Ultimatum
Seattle’s incoming treasurer refuses to accept bank IOUs as currency, demanding hard coin to back the city’s treasury.
Also about this, in other words
- The Seattle Silver Rebellion
A convention of delegates from the South and West met in Seattle to demand that the federal government restore silver to its rightful place alongside gold, signaling a growing populist resistance against Wall Street's control of the nation's currency.
- The Clerk Who Pocketed the Change
A grocery clerk is caught red-handed by a private detective after being suspected of skimming from the till.
- The Scent of 'Unmarked Coin' at the Capitol
As local option battles intensify, rumors of a slush fund designed to sway legislators circulate through Olympia.
- The Political Economy of 'Free Silver'
An editorial critique of the Populist push for silver currency, warning that inflation would only devastate the working class.
- Governor McGraw Refuses to March for Free Silver
Invited to send three delegates to a Salt Lake City convention, Washington’s governor writes a blunt refusal—and says 16-to-1 coinage is not a popular doctrine in this state.
- The Silver Question and the Workingman's Wage
A political maneuver in the House of Representatives forces a debate on whether wages and savings should be paid in gold or silver.
- The Perfect Counterfeit
Spokane police investigate a sophisticated operation producing high-quality gold fakes that fool local businesses.
- The Great Greenback Tug-of-War
A Seattle reader squares off against national editors over the power of the government to define the value of money itself.