Joseph "Yellow Kid" Weil (July 1, 1875 – February 26, 1976)[1][2] was one of the best known American con men of his era.

A popular rumor exists which claims that in 1889 Weil managed to sell a chicken to a wealthy prospector passing through Illinois for the price of a golden nugget.

[5] He quit school and started work as a collector in his home town's bustling loan-sharking industry at age 17.

[3][page needed] "There have been many erroneous stories published about how I acquired this cognomen", Weil writes in his autobiography.

[3][page needed] During his career, Weil worked with, among others, con men Doc Meriwether, Billy Wall, William J. Winterbill, Bob Collins, Colonel Jim Porter, Romeo Simpson, "Fats" Levine, Jack Mason, Tim North, and George Gross.

[7] Weil claimed to have swindled Andrew Mellon's brother out of $500,000 in a scam involving a silver mine in Colorado.