Local coin collectors beware: if you have a vintage silver dollar in your possession, it might instead be a relic of a prolific counterfeiting operation. Three brothers from Ellsinore were arrested in 1924 after putting an unknown number of bad coins in circulation. In other news, Poplar Bluff struggled to meet its street paving quota due to devalued tax bills in 1974.
__Aug. 28, 1924__
• Three brothers were busted for counterfeiting coins. Jasper, Clifford and Doll Nash, all of Eminence, were taken into custody by U.S. Marshals and Shannon County deputies yesterday. They’re being held in Butler County.
A months-long investigation found the Nash brothers’ operation was a lucrative one. They’d made many counterfeit silver dollars and at the time of their arrests were preparing to churn out half dollars. Officials don’t know how many of their fake coins are currently in circulation.
A U.S. commissioner said the die used to cast the faux dollars was “a clever replica” of the real thing, but the final product wasn’t perfect. They weren’t perfectly circular, and the alloy the Nashes used was darker in color and lighter in weight than the real thing.
The brothers’ trial is scheduled for Sept. 19 and multiple witnesses have already been called.
Aug. 28, 1949 — No issues available.
__Aug. 28, 1974__
• Poplar Bluff’s 1975 street plan will likely need revisions, as contractors struggle to sell tax bills to fund it.
City Manager David Pence explained the five-year street plan calls for five miles of streets to be constructed each year. The plan was adopted in 1972. This year, 3.2 miles of street were bid out for construction, and the city purchased tax bills for .8 miles to bring the total to 4 miles.
“We got no bids on the last three contracts we tried to let,” Pence explained. “The banks say the property abutting many of the streets (proposed in the contracts) is not worth the tax bills.”
The city pays about 35% of construction costs and issues tax bills for the remainder. These are promissory notes against the property abutting the paved streets, and if they’re not paid off after five years, the properties can by sold. Banks are the primary buyers of tax bills.
Construction companies won’t submit project bids until the tax bills are bought up.
The paving program has seen great success and public reception in previous years.