The ‘green-goods swindle’ was a common con trick prevalent in the US in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.   Circulars would be mailed offering counterfeit banknotes that are guaranteed to be undetectable.   Usually, the fraudsters would claim that the notes were produced on genuine plates stolen from the Bureau of Engraving and Printing by a disgruntled employee.  A fake newspaper would sometimes be included with the circular stating that someone caught passing the notes had evaded conviction because Treasury officials were unable to prove that the notes weren’t produced from government plates.

 The prospective dupe would be instructed to use a code name and number printed on the circular when wiring his reply, and would then be told to bring cash to a meeting with a supplier.

The fraudster would then con the mark out of his money, often by using what was known as the ‘envelope switch.’   This involved the mark giving the fraudster a sum of money to buy a quantity of counterfeit notes.   The fraudster would place the money in an envelope and write a code number on it.  He would then return the envelope to the mark to hold until delivery of the counterfeit notes is made the following day.   Of course, at some point in the transaction the con man would have switched the envelope containing the mark’s money with one containing blank pieces of paper and the counterfeit money would never arrive.

Source: THE LITERATURE OF FRAUD AND SWINDLING By Patterson Smith, from AB Bookmans' Weekly, April 28, 1997. 

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