Fwd: "plugged, adj." - Word of the Day from the OED

[Victor Steinbok]

A follow-up on "plugged 2.". I have a source that disputes both the date
and the "US" designation.

plugged 2. 1883 --> 1854 (non-US/India) --> 1822 (US)
plugged nickel [fig., US] 1884

Here's a line from a Bengali-English Dictionary of 1856, published in India.

http://goo.gl/6rvEf
Bengali and English Dictionary, For the Use of Schools. Calcutta: 1856
p. 176/2 [3rd word from the bottom]
> counterfeit or plugged (coin.)

Interestingly enough, it's the /only/ GB hit for "plugged coin" prior to
1883. But there is one more from a bit earlier for "plugged coins" and
it's also from India!

http://goo.gl/vRmbs
Index to the Decisions of the Nizamut Adawlut, North-Western Provinces,
 From July to December 1854. Volume 4, Part 2. Agra: 1855
October 11, 1854. Case of Indur Singh and others.
p. 519
> I am inclined even to extend full credit to the sincerity of his
> identification of the two debased rupees which, it is to be noted, are
> not ordinary forgeries, but plugged rupees, manipulated in such a
> manner, as to be fairly susceptible of identification; and the natives
> of this country, those especially of the class to which the plaintiff
> belongs, are admitted to possess in a higher degree the faculty of
> distinguishing coins and currencies.
p. 520
> "The next item against the defendant has also been furnished by
> himself,--of the total property discovered concealed in the dwelling
> and secreted in four different localities, the small brass lotah
> containing 495//Bala Shahee/ /rupees, and among which were found the
> two plugged coins recognized by the original prosecutor, was asserted
> by the prisoner to have been so secreted eight years ago. The
> suspicious brightness of the metal attracted the attention of the
> police, and they submitted the vessel and the rupees to the
> examination of persons competent to speak on such subjects, who
> declared, and have repeated their assertions before the Magistrate, in
> full distinctness, that from the state of the surface of the metal,
> and the appearance of the coin, it was impossible that theycould have
> remained undisturbed for so long a period as stated by the prisoner,
> or that any inference, other than such as should suppose a deposit of
> a few days'date could be consistently entertained."


There are two more for "plugged nickel", but one is mistagged (see
below) and one contains multiple volumes (so 1881 is actually 1887).
Other combinations of "plugged" with coin names are no more helpful,
unfortunately, except when the search is opened for co-occurrences
rather than exact phrases.

http://goo.gl/thpbi
The Oracle, Volume 17. March 1884 [GB lists as 1878, Volume 12]
Editorial. p. 44
> Plucked or not plucked, they wouldn't sponge anything out of a
> professor, and no one but Haff was mean enough to pay a plugged
> nickel, either.

So this is a much earlier instance of "plugged nickel" than the 1936
example in the OED, in a perfectly metaphorical sense that the OED
claims to be the exclusive "now chiefly" interpretation.

The American Journal of Numismatics for 1880-82 (vols. 14-17) has
multiple instances of "plugged" referring to coin listings.
http://goo.gl/vBtil

Interestingly, only one instance can be found in vol. 14 (1880) and none
in vol. 13 (1879).
http://goo.gl/E7L6U

And one more in October 1877 (vol. 12).
http://goo.gl/M01RR

The same goes for an 1877 New York auction Catalogue of a Very Valuable
and Interesting Collection of Gold, Silver and Copper Coins.
http://goo.gl/K3ma3

But this also shows up much earlier (also identical text in 1837 edition):

http://goo.gl/rcnDl
The Merchant's and Shipmaster's Assistant: Containing Information Useful
to American Merchants, Owners, and Masters of Ships. By Joseph Blunt.
New York: 1822
Chapter III. Exchange. p. 66
> At BARBADOES, accounts are kept as at Jamaica ; Dm the currency is
> different: --an English guinea passes here legally for £1 10s.
> Od.--the Portuguese joannes for £5--the doubloon for $16. or £A 10s.
> Od.--and the moidore for £l 17s. 6d --and all these coins must have
> the same weight as at Jamaica. The Spanish dollar is current at 6s.
> 3d. Mutilated coins are out of circulation in the British islands,
> except at Grenada, where half-joannes *plugged* up to 74 dwts. pass
> for $7 33.

What's particularly interesting about all of these is that none of the
usage (other than the Bengali dictionary and the Indian court case)
implies in any way that the "plugged" coins are counterfeit or
worthless. They are standard albeit with possibly lower values than
other coins. So something is going on here that the OED description is
missing.

So there are three issues here, aside from antedating:

1) The meaning of "plugged coins" suggests reduced value although the
specifics are now unclear (need to consult with a knowledgeable numismat
or a museum curator who handles coins). OED has no information on early
usage, other than the very general mechanical description.
2) "Plugged nickel" was a euphemism for worthless substitute or
fraudulent compensation as early as 1884 (apparently having acquired the
proverbial meaning around that time). OED has no separate mention of
"plugged nickel", but see more below.
3) Early usage was not exclusive to the US (except for "plugged nickel"
and "plugged quarter", of course).

Here's a bit more on "plugged nickel" (Evan Morris):

http://www.word-detective.com/061300.html#pluggednickel
> "Not worth a plugged nickel" as an Americanism meaning "worthless"
> first appeared in print about 1912, although we can assume "plugged
> nickel", along with the similar "plugged quarter" and "plugged peso,"
> were in common usage long before they made it into print. To "plug" a
> coin means to remove its center, usually because the coin is made of a
> precious metal such as gold or silver, and to replace the missing part
> with a cheaper metal "plug." This sort of larcenous messing with
> currency has been popular since coins first appeared millennia ago,
> and Americans were plugging French, English and other nations' coins
> back in the days before we had our own to plug. A plugged nickel,
> while it may be accepted at face value by an inattentive shopkeeper,
> is, of course, fundamentally worthless.
> Incidentally, although we think of the nickel as the quintessential
> American five-cent piece, in 1857 the coin known as "the nickel" was
> made of copper and nickel and worth only one cent. A three cent
> all-nickel "nickel" appeared in 1865, but the nickel we know today
> (again actually a copper-nickel alloy) wasn't issued until 1875.

This does not leave a whole lot of time between 1857 (the first
"nickel") and 1884 (the earliest tracked "plugged nickel").

     VS-)

On 2/10/2011 4:10 AM, Victor Steinbok wrote:
> plugged, adj. 1. 1872 --> 1810
> unplugged, adj. 1. 1856 --> 1775
> ...
>
> ============
> OED Online Word of the Day
>
> plugged, adj.
>  2. U.S. Of a coin: having a portion replaced with less valuable
> material. Now chiefly designating something worthless.
> 1883 Indiana Weekly Messenger (Electronic text) 26 Sept.,All that was
> found in the shape of money was a plugged quarter.
> 1888 Texas Siftings 3 Nov.,Ticket Agent—Can't sell you a ticket for
> that quarter; it's plugged.
> 1890 B. Hall Turnover Club 207The first speaker‥paid the price of his
> folly with a plugged quarter.
> 1923 C. E. Mulford Black Buttes 265He says‥he'll see us both in hell
> before he'll pay a plugged peso.
> 1936 C. Sandburg People, Yes 63He seems to think he's the frog's
> tonsils but he looks to me like a plugged nickel.
> 1991 R. Price Back Before Day in Foreseeable Future 244If the world
> turned honest at dawn, tell me what you think—would anybody give a
> plugged nickel to keep us here alive?

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