The Butcher and the Counterfeiter
A young salesman tries to pass bogus gold at a local market, only to be outsmarted by a quick-thinking shopkeeper.
Harry Leonard, aged 24 years, who gave his occupation as a salesman, was arrested on Vine street, in North Seattle, for attempting to pass counterfeit money on A. J. Kensley, proprietor of the Piston market, at 2411 Front street. Leonard came into the shop and asked for some mutton chops. When they were cut, rolled up and given to him, he threw down upon the wrapping paper what purported to be a $5 gold piece. Kensley picked it up and in a moment knew it was a counterfeit by the feeling and weight. He returned it to his customer and asked him where he got it. The young man faltered, then said he would leave the chops and return for them after exchanging the coin. Kensley sent his collector for a policeman while he kept the customer in sight. Officer Faucett apprehended Leonard on Vine street between Second and Third. Upon his arrest, Leonard pleaded with the officer to shoot him rather than face the disgrace. A search revealed $1.90 in good money and twenty-one spurious quarter dollars. Detectives suspect Leonard was not the manufacturer, but merely a runner for a larger counterfeiting operation.
“Gentlemen, my case is desperate; it were better for me if my life ended here.”
Counterfeiting was a persistent anxiety in early Seattle’s cash-dependent economy, where rapid growth often outpaced the ability to verify currency. While modern digital payment security has largely replaced the local butcher as the first line of defense against bad money, the tension between small-time actors and organized crime remains a fixture of urban life.
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