The Gold Brick Gang: How Seattle’s Smugglers Were Caught Red-Handed
A trio of young men ran a sophisticated counterfeiting ring out of their rooming house, selling fake gold bricks to unsuspecting merchants and bankers before being busted by detectives.
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.
SEATTLE, March 23.—A gang of four or five youths, who have been carrying on the systematic robbery of the department stores, were captured by Detectives Perrine and Dutton yesterday. Last night the young men had a $100 worth of articles of various kinds, and with the proceeds of their robbery each boy had started a bank account.
"In this way," they said, "we got them $25 in cash. They would then attend church or meet a good time, and what was left they would put in the bank."
With one of the several photographic cameras which they established under the name of a photographer, they went into the stores and took a picture of whatever merchandise delivery wagons were for turning the cameras into cash in the store.
The boys gave their names as J. Smith, James Jackson and Wade, and were at the time employed as clerks at Wanamaker's store. Smith is said to have been the leader. The robbery lasted a space of three months. Among the articles taken were a number of valuable clocks, glassware, silverware and sporting articles. The lads have all gone for trial.
This 1904 story about 'gold bricks'—fake gold bars sold to unsuspecting victims—is a perfect example of historical fraud that rhymes with modern crypto scams or Ponzi schemes. While the method has changed from mercury-amalgamated lead to digital tokens, the core mechanism remains the same: exploiting trust and the desire for quick wealth in a booming economy.
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