The Melted Coins

The Melted Coins by Franklin W. Dixon (1944) I had a rough idea to write 35 short book reviews on this website, this year—and this being only number 29 marks failure at that goal—not that anyone cares but me. This will be the last of the year. Next year!—though… the goal is 50! Anyway, this is probably the third time I’ve read this, the re-write of The Melted Coins—and I chose this moment because I’m working on a novel that I’m using this book as the model for. Not that my novel will resemble it in any way (except being about kids of much the same age who encounter a guy with amnesia). This may not be my favorite Hardy Boy book, but it’s one of the strangest, and the strange stuff is funny, so it’s one of most goofy, by far. I’m talking about the original version, of course, which was written by Leslie McFarlane, according to sources. He wrote the first 16 or so, which are pretty much the best—and then other writer took over—but he came back for a few more titles, including this one, which is number 23. (The re-write of this book, by the way, from 1970, bears almost no resemblance to the original.) The “melted coins” part of the plot is almost total nonsense, in that it’s about counterfeiters who steal rare coins, melt them down, then press them into small denomination US currency. Was McFarlane fucking with us? The story also centers on the Hardys meeting a man whose head injury, due to an attack, has given him amnesia. They sense he’s probably from a Spanish speaking nation and thus call him “Mr. Spanish” through most of the book, even to him. They take him in to reside at their home until he is able to recover, which he does, finally, assisted by Fenton Hardy whispering phrases in Spanish to the man while he sleeps, and Joe yapping like a Chihuahua. It works! The man turns out to be a rich guy from Mexico. The other highpoint of the book is when, while investigating low-lifes near the waterfront, Joe is captured by a deranged tattoo artist who thinks he is a descendant of the Pirate, Blackbeard, and is determined to tattoo Joe, at no charge, in order to pass on the “Curse of the Caribbees.” He even gets Joe’s shirt off and the needle in him a few times before he’s rescued by dumb luck. I think it would have been cool if he actually did get the tattoo.