Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (UK Und.) a mendicant villain who specializes in faking sickness, esp. epilepsy (‘the falling sickness’); he would often display convincingly horrific sores and wounds, created by the application of various herbs.

c.1566		Harman Caveat for Common Cursetours in Viles & Furnivall (1907) 51: Those that do counterfet the Cranke be yong knaues and yonge harlots, that depely dissemble the falling sickness. For the Cranke in their language is the falling euyll.
1593		G. Harvey Pierce’s Supererogation 21: A bottomlesse pitt of Inuention, stoared with neuer-fayling shiftes of counterfeite crankes.
1608		Dekker Belman of London D2: Baser in habit, and more vile in condition than the Whipiacke, is the Counterfeit cranke: who in all kind of weather, going halfe naked, staring wildly with his eys, and appearing distracted by his lookes, complaining onely that he is troubled with the falling sicknes.
1610		Rowlands Martin Mark-all 58: So Counterfeit Cranke is the false falling sicknesse.
1621		R. Burton Anatomy of Melancholy (1850) 440: Thou art a counterfeit crank, a cheater.
1669		W. Winstanley New Help To Discourse 133: Counterfeit Cranks, are such as counterfeit the falling sickness, to kindle in men the greater compassion, foaming at their mouths, which they do by conveying a piece of white soap into one corner of their Jaws, that causeth the froath to come boyling forth.
1688		R. Holme Academy of Armory Ch. iii item 68b: Give me leave to give you the names (as in their Canting Language they call themselves) of all (or most of such) as follow the Vagabond Trade, according to their Regiments or Divisions, as [...] Counterfeit Crankers, Rogues that are able, yet make themselves lame and sore.
c.1698		B.E. Dict. Canting Crew.
1785, 1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue n.p.: Counterfeit crank, a general cheat, assuming all sorts of characters; one counterfeiting the falling sickness.
1811		Lex. Balatronicum.
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1839		Leeds Times 18 May 4: There is a counterfeit crank of falling sickness.

2. a general cheat, with no pretence of medical problems.

1725		New Canting Dict. n.p.: counterfeit-crank a genteel Cheat, a Sham or Imposter, appearing in divers Shapes; one who sometimes counterfeits Mens Hands, or forges Writings; at other Times personates other Men: Who is sometimes a Clipper or Coiner; at other Times deals in Counterfeit Jewels, and pretends to pledge or sell them for less than Worth, and is never heard of again. Sometimes he sets up for a strowling Mountebank or Player, and pretends to Cures and Parts he knows nothing of: To Day he is a Clergyman in Distress; to Morrow a reduced Gentleman: In short, a Counterfeit-Crank is a perfect Proteus, who can transform himself into all Shapes to serve his villainous Purposes.
1737, 1759, 1760, 1776		Bailey Universal Etym. Eng. Dict.
1785		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue n.p.: Counterfeit crank, a general cheat who occasionally assumes all sorts of characters.
1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue (3rd edn).
1811		Lex. Balatronicum.
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.