Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 49, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 December 1895 — THE SPRINKLE DOLLARS. [ARTICLE]

THE SPRINKLE DOLLARS.

A Kentucky Mystery Which Has Nsver Bssn Unearthed. Joseph Shoemaker, of fSrayson. Carter county. Ivy., received the other day, in payment for a horse sold to au old farmer liviug near the Lewis county line. S4O, among which were three of the famous “Spriukle dollars” of the early thirties. It has been more than twenty years since any of these peculiar coins have been found in this section, and tin* production of these will recall a queer character who flourished in the earlier part of the century and went down to his grave with a secret that lias never been uncart lied, .losinli Sprinkle, the person in question, lived iu one of th« roughest sections iu Lewis county, and on a line proliublv tifty miles from Grayson. In Ids day Washington, the county senteof Mason and one of tin* oldest towns in this end of the State, was thriving. One day Sprinkle,• then well along In years, appeared at Washington with a buckskin pouch full of silver dollars of ids own make, in every reaped they up peered the equal of tin* national coin. The weight was more than present. and the quality and ring of the metal were all that could Im* asked. He spent them freely, and they were taken upon the assurance of Sprinkle that there was nothing wrong with them beyond the fact that lie and not the I’ulted States Mint li.-td coined them. Asked where he got (lie silver lie laughed and shook ids head knowingly; "it does not matter so i get It. and there’s plenty of it left,” was as much as he would ever offer in explanation. The inscriptions on Hie coins were rudely outlined, and in no wise was any attempt made at imitation of tin* legal coin. Rudely outlined on one side was au owl. while a six-cornered star showed with more accuracy upon llie other. The edges were smooth, no attempt having been made nl milling. The coins were considerably larger than the regulation article. amlTliicker as well. I’pon various occasions Sprinkle afterward visited the town, and in every InsUiiiec lie spent them more and more freely. At one time lie volunteered the fact that lie laid r. silver mine in the hills, hut no one ever succeeded In inducing (lie 010 man to allow a sharing of Ids secret. Finally tin* Government agents learned of tin* matter and runic on to investigate. Sprinkle was arrest eh and brought Into court, but iin* dot tars were proved lo in* pure silver, without alloy, worth in fact it trifle more than a dollar each, and after an exciting trial lie readied down iu a cavernous pocket and drew on I a hag of fifty of the coins and promptly paid his attorney in Hie presence of tin* iistonished officials. Spriukle was neve, afterward bothered, and continued tin ill ids death to make tin* dollars. how and where no one ever knew. lie lived practically alone, having his hut away from ills relatives, who lived close al hand, and lie died suddenly, carrying the secret of ids find lo tin grave untold.