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U.S. concerns, and subsequent alarm warnings about what was "hysterical Twilight Zone fodder" reportedly annoyed the Canadian intelligence and technology communities.

Something akin to an apology was issued by a U.S. Defense Department Security Service spokeswoman who confirmed that the service had not even examined the coins. "We know where we made the mistake," she said. "The information wasn't properly vetted. While these coins aroused suspicion, there ultimately was nothing there."

But sometimes there is something there. Coins have been used in espionage in the past. The most celebrated instance involved the infamous Soviet Spy Rufolf Abel.

This amazing incident began when a Brooklyn Eagle newspaper boy, who also collected coins, received what he determined to be a hollow nickel while making collections from his home delivery customers. His curiosity was raised when on June 22, 1953, he received a coin in change.

There are two versions of exactly what happened next, but neither changes the outcome: the bogus spy coin led to the breakup of a Soviet spy ring and Abel's capture:

In the first version, the boy thought one of the coins he received from his customers seemed to have a peculiar ring. He supposedly rested this coin, a nickel, on the middle finger of his right hand and it felt lighter than an ordinary nickel. He deliberately dropped the coin on the floor, and it fell apart! Inside was a tiny photograph of a series of numbers.

In the second version, the boy who, as we said collected coins, examined his collected change. This particular nickel, which felt lighter than it should, had the date 1948 on the obverse. But the reverse displayed the large mint Mark used on the wartime silver nickels of 1942-45 (this writer remembers newspaper versions at the time saying it was the "P" mint mark, but I have been unable to confirm that for this article).

There was also a tiny drilled hole in the "R" of the word "TRUST" so a needle or other small instrument could be inserted to force the nickel open.

Hollow coins of various denominations are rarely seen by ordinary citizens but are occasionally used in magic acts. From time to time they come to the attention of Federal law enforcement agencies. But this was the first time the FBI had ever encountered one like this.

This fascinating story stretched out for five years from the time the FBI quickly located where the paperboy got the nickel then tracked the Soviet agents involved. Eventually they found other hollow coins

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