coniacker

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English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Cogniac Street, a location in Dunham, Quebec close to the United States-Canada border from which a significant amount of counterfeiting took place in the 18th century and early 19th century.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈkɒnijækɚ/, /ˈkɒnjækɚ/

Noun

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coniacker (plural coniackers)

  1. (chiefly US, dated) A counterfeiter, a dealer in counterfeit money.
    • 1880, “Penitentiary Points — The "Ledger Man" Interviews the Penitentiary Notables”, in Mexico Weekly Ledger[1], retrieved 2023-05-30, page 3:
      Among the notables we were shown [was] Biebusch, the coniacker, who was sent up from St. Louis about three months ago for ten years for the making and shoving of the queer.
    • 1891, “The Government Secret Service”, in Orange County Observer[2], sourced from Pittsburg Dispatch, retrieved 2023-05-30, page 1:
      Twenty-eight men cover this entire country hunting out counterfeits and counterfeiters, devising intricate schemes to catch the coniacker red handed in his infamous work.
    • 1899, Frank Cowan, The Millionaire: A Novel[3], page 191:
      "I sold my stock [...] and received in payment five counterfeit one-thousand-dollar-bills!" "What! You insolent man! You dare to tell me to my face that you recognize in me a coniacker or shover of the queer?"

See also

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