Members welcome counterfeiter to Jan. 4 meeting

Start 2018 with a bang by sharing lunch with Litchfield-Morris Rotarians and hearing guest speaker Louis “The Coin” Colavecchio, who some consider the world’s greatest counterfeiter.

The event is being held at the Forman School dining facility, 12 Norfolk Road, Litchfield, on Jan. 4 from noon to 1:30 p.m. There is no charge, but reservations are requested since space is limited.

To make a reservation, for directions and additional information, contact Andy Thibault (860-6900211, tntcomm82@cs.com or Chuck Conn (860.806.1550 or cbcthree@aol.com).

“I’m always happy to visit Connecticut to see old friends and make new ones,” Colavecchio said. “I also appreciate the work of Rotary Club members who serve others all year round. I’m just an average, hard-working guy with tenacity. Unlike many people, if I have a goal I never quit. Of course it helps if your goal is legal.”

Colavecchio will be introduced by retired Connecticut State Police Detective Sergeant Jerry Longo, who arrested him. “Louis came up with a brilliant plan. We (the cops) did, too. I do not condone his criminal behavior, but I understand it. He was very creative, an artist. I assisted in some small way with him going to jail, and he served his time. After spending time together after the case closed, we have developed a friendship. That’s OK with me. I am no longer a trooper, having retired in 2003. He’s retired, too, right?”

Longo is now a senior investigator for a major casino. Longo wrote the introduction for Colavecchio’s book, “You Thought It Was More,” a memoir.

Louis The Coin’s enterprise has been described by the U.S. Secret Service as the largest coin counterfeiting case in the department’s history. Colavecchio, who created undetectable slot machine tokens, writes about his wild adventures throughout the U.S. and Europe. It might be an understatement to say Colavecchio changed the face of casino gambling. Casinos, for example, no longer use slot machine tokens.

“What? You thought it was more?” This saying was code for being affiliated with the Providence Office, a moniker for the operations of mob boss Raymond Patriarca. He was known as talent in crime circles and as a hero in Providence because The Coin did not rat out any of his friends.

Louis The Coin began a life of entrepreneurial adventure as a youngster. Along the way he got to know many characters on all sides of the law, throughout the United States and Europe. His father had arrived in Providence from Italy in 1903, and as an established businessman Benedict Colavecchio and his wife, Theorora, encouraged young Louis to gain an education. While working full-time, he earned a degree in business administration from Providence College.

Colavecchio was such a great counterfeiter that after he spent more than two years in federal prison for his handiwork, he was paid $18,000 by the Treasury Department to explain why his manufacturing dies outlast those at the U.S. Mint.

Colavecchio’s counterfeiting prowess has been featured on The History Channel and the BBC.