I'm not Joshing you

CoinZip

"Just joshing you" came from the late 1800's and has a very interesting story behind it!

Josh Tatum was a deaf mute, but a very enterprising young man from the midwest. In 1883 the US Mint came out with a new nickel. It was deemed the Liberty Head Nickel and on the reverse side had a large roman numeral V stamped on it. The new nickel did not have the word "cents" or "nickel" stamped on it. Josh Tatum noticed this and the fact that it was nearly the same size as the US $5.00 gold piece, which at the time was used as common currency. With the help of a friend familiar in gold electroplating base metal, they turned these coins into a literal gold mine. Tatum went from town to town going into shops, stores & mercantiles. He was very careful not to purchase anything that cost more than a nickel, where he would hand over one of these gold plated nickels. The clerk would accept the coin, and in most instances give Josh back $4.95 in change, which he happily would take. By the time law enforcement caught up to him, he had visited hundreds of towns & had amassed a small fortune!.



The Law prosecuted him but ironically he was found not guilty on the most serious charges, because he only purchased items that totaled 5 cents, and because he was deaf & could not speak he never represented that it was a new $5.00 gold piece.



The same year, the US mint added the word "cents" to the Liberty Head Nickle in an effort to bring this type of fraud to a halt.



Hence the famous saying "your not Joshing me are you?"



credit where credit is due.



or



it must be true...



or



When the legend becomes fact, print the legend



or



Stop the madness



or



Oh noooooo ...

mrearlygold

It's a fun story but the page can't be displayed! Please repost story!

chumley

interesting little bit of Americana....thanks for sharing it

sellitstore

Link

johnny9434

interesting story

TheCollectiveLives

Thanks for sharing that...very interesting.

MWallace

OK, I'll be the spoiler. That's an urban legend. The story has never been found in any newspaper article of the period. Plus, it's a fact that the term "joshing" was in use decades before 1883.

dbldie55

Great story, not a word of which is true, but it keeps getting repeated.

TopographicOceans

Originally posted by: MWallace
OK, I'll be the spoiler. That's an urban legend. The story has never been found in any newspaper article of the period. Plus, it's a fact that the term "joshing" was in use decades before 1883.

Word Detective

AUandAG

Usless without pics: note reeded edge....



bob

ricko

An old myth, but entertaining anyway....Cheers, RickO

keets

likewise, I have always enjoyed the story but never really believed it.

MrHalfDime

From the on-line etymology dictionary:

"josh (v.) Look up josh at Dictionary.com
"to make fun of, to banter," 1845 (intransitive), 1852 (transitive), American English; according to "Dictionary of American Slang," the earliest example is capitalized, hence it is probably from the familiar version of the proper name Joshua. Perhaps it was taken as a typical name of an old farmer.

If those dates are correct, the word was in use earlier than the career of U.S. humorist Josh Billings, pseudonym of Henry Wheeler Shaw (1818-1885), who did not begin to write and lecture until 1860; but his popularity after 1869 may have influence that of the word, or even re-coined it, as it does not seem to have been much in print before 1875.

About the most originality that any writer can hope to achieve honestly is to steal with good judgment. ["Josh Billings"]

Related: Joshed; joshing."

Note the dates in the above.

WinLoseWin

It definitely came from my uncle's cousin's daughter's friend's great great great grandfather.



I know it's true 'cause I heard a rumor.