coniacker

English

Alternative forms

• koniacker, koneyacker

Etymology

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

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɒnijækɚ/, /ˈkɒnjækɚ/

Noun

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

• cogniac