The False Gold of Fayette
A new brand of counterfeit gold dust is circulating through Walla Walla, and it is so convincing that few can tell the difference without the use of acid.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
We were shown this week some two ounces of the new Fayette counterfeit gold dust, which a gentleman had taken in payment of a debt. It looks more like genuine gold than any counterfeit we have ever seen—resembling somewhat the 'amalgam' from the Owyhee mines—and would readily be taken for genuine by anyone not accustomed to dealing in gold dust. Mixed with genuine dust, but few would detect it without the use of acids. An individual—supposed to have been one of the Fayette counterfeiters—came into town this week and purchased a horse and paid for it in this dust. The man who sold the horse has since been trying to obtain some clue to the whereabouts of the purchaser, but without success.
“Mixed with genuine dust, but few would detect it without the use of acids.”
Counterfeit currency was a constant threat to the frontier economy, where gold dust served as the primary medium of exchange. Today, digital fraud and identity theft fill the same role in local commerce, exploiting the trust required for rapid transactions.
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