History Question

What items, other than money, were being
“counterfeited” in Columbus County in 1897?

History Question Answer

An item in The Columbus News, one of the two “parents” of The News Reporter, in April 1897 reported the following:
“Counterfeiting seems to be very prevalent these days. We have heard of counterfeiting ‘coon skins when they were legal tender by sewing the tail of a ‘coon to a ‘possum hide, but the most ingenious piece of this kind of work we have yet heard of was called to our attention a few days ago.
“Some enterprising poultryman, before marketing his chickens here, trimmed the tails of his feminine-looking roosters and passed them off as hens because they fetch about 2 cents more than roosters (per pound).”