Was the nickel a foreign currency (foreign to the seller of the cigar)?
Josh looked old enough but was he old enough?
no
yes
Was Josh in a store that sell cigars?
If yes did he purchase the cigar from the store?
Yes to both.
Is a wooden nickel involved?
Is an Indian head (Buffalo) nickel involved?
Is a Cigar-store Indian involved?
Did Josh fraudulently alter, deface, mutilate, impair, diminish, falsify, scale, or lighten any of the coins coined at the Mints of the United States?
Was the store open when he got the cigar and paid for it?
ETA Was he allowed to be in the store?
Was Josh arrested on suspicion of committing a crime/breaking the law?
Was Josh arrested because he paid for a cigar with a nickel?
Did Josh buy the cigar for himself?
Does “convicted” mean to be found guilty in a court of law?
Did Josh pay a person or machine for the cigar?
Does the store or vending machine accept cash payments?
Did Josh properly pay for the cigar before being arrested?
ETA: Was Josh arrested on accident/by mistake?
Was Josh arrested on suspicion of spending counterfeit money?
~Max
Did the cigar contain something else besides tobacco?
YES, but this is not adequate to solve the entire puzzle.
I know it seems like people are getting it, but we have more to have the full solution.
NO
We’re gonna need a full picture of the situation to consider it solved.
Did Josh make the nickle look like a valuable copper nickel (or a mistruck coin), but not present it as such, relying on the storekeeper recognizing it and agreeing to the deal?
Was it a Westward Journey commemorative nickel?
He did not make it look like a valuable copper nickel or mistruck coin.
NO
Was the coin a stolen item? Or thought to be one?
Was the coin counterfeit? Or thought to be so ?
Were nickel coins brand new at the time, and thus unrecognised by the shopkeeper?
Was Josh suspected of being a foreign agent or spy?
Was it Confederate currency? Or Yankee currency presented in a Southern state?
Was it a magic trick of some kind? (I remember a nickle coin casing that can fit over a penny)
Did he make it look like another coin altogether? Like a similarly sized gold coin?
I think this might be enough.
Telemark has most of it. He was not convicted of anything, though. Why?
Has the case gone to trial?
~Max
YES