- Joseph Cosey
Joseph Cosey (born Martin Coneely, 1887-1950?) was a
United States document forger who forged handwriting from U.S. historical figures.Early life
Joseph Cosey was born in February 1887 as Martin Coneely in
Syracuse, New York . Cosey worked as a printer's apprentice before he joined theUnited States Army in 1909. He was dishonorably discharged four years later.Crime
Cosey was later arrested several times for various crimes, ranging from motorcycle theft to forged cheques and carrying a deadly weapon. Cosey used various false names. He served almost ten years in
San Quentin State Prison and was released in the late 1920s.Around 1929, Cosey began to forge documents based on United States history. He stole a pay warrant from
Benjamin Franklin from theLibrary of Congress to practice Franklin handwriting, and sold the forgeries for small sums. He later expanded to other historical forgeries. He used old paper, brown ink and writing implements that the contemporary writer would have used at that time - this made his documents so convincing that they fooled several experts.Cosey forged documents and signatures of such historical figures as
George Washington ,James Monroe ,Button Gwinnett , andMark Twain . Several fake letters fromAbraham Lincoln were produced, as well asThomas Jefferson 's supposed draft of the Declaration of Independence. Cosey expressed pride in the fact that he never sold his work to amateur collectors.Arrest
Even with the considerations Cosey made to give his forgeries the look of authentic documents, he eventually made mistakes. One such mistake involved his use of the style that the historical figure would have used in their prime, when the date of the document would have called for the writer's hands to tremble with old age. Later forgeries were also easier to spot; Cosey began to use modern chemicals to age modern paper.
Cosey was arrested in 1937 after selling a fake letter (supposedly from Abraham Lincoln) to a stamp dealer. The stamp dealer analyzed the letter and discovered the forgery. After the arrest, Cosey confessed his crimes and was eventually sentenced to three years in prison. He was released in less than a year, and continued to make forgeries until his death.
Impact
Several forgeries produced by Joseph Cosey are most likely still in circulation. Over the years, they have become valuable collectors' items in their own right.
References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
