The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1804-05-19
PLANS TO PREVENT COUNTER
FEITING BANK NOTES.

The following Letter appeared in the
Political Repoftory of May 10th.
MIR. RICHARDSON,
TO your politenefs in handing me the
fecond number of the Enquirer, / am in
debted for the view of the ingenious Edi-
tors remarks on the different plans for pre-
venting the counterfeiting Bank notes. As
l feel a folicitude for the fucceis of that
Object, / am pleafed that it has excited the
attention ola gentleman of his learning and
ingenuity. He has remarked with freedom
upon the two plans, propoied to the pub
lie, and fome of his obfervations appear to
be correct. What Mr.. Perkins late i'm
PROPONENTS on tn" itereo-type plan may be,
which has procured him the Respectable
certificate which he has publiihed, | cam
not tell, hut it is ftrongly imprefed on my
mind, that if his improvements be the re-
1ult OF any art of MAN, another IAN may
initiate it. do not urge this idea as an
original of my OWN (; l fvit received it
from Doctor Franklin, in the year 1889,
when ! was engraving I die to itrike me-
dals of General Wilmington, 1 waited
upon the Doctor for the interruption, and he
ihewed me a medal of himfelf which was
made by Dabre in Paris. The fight of this
fuperb medal had the fame effect upon ne
as that of the glory of King Solomon had
upon the queen of the fouth !: when 1 had
fecn the beauty of this piece, &" the.e was
no more fpirit in me.' itold the venerable
Doctor, that / thought had better relin-
quith the deRgn, as | deipaired of ever pro-
ducing 10 elegant a piece Of work. He re-
Piled "this was done by a man in Paris
As L did not comprehend his entire mean
ing, he repeated it ieyeral times. This
was done bv a man in Paris" At length
be explained himie,f thus " had this been
the effect OF nature, you might iuftly def
par, to have matched it, but as it has
been done by a man, { man may do the
like: Try it ; if you do not like the frh at
tempt, try 1t again ; and always remember,
that the fureit way TO make a thing impof-
hble is to believe it to be 70 but never eX-
pectto produce by art what is only the of
hce of natav-e to perform" followed the
Doctor's advice, andI fucceded pretty well,
and firm belief in the correctness of his
opinion induces me to fay, that no f~ecurity
againt counterfeits can be relied on which
is the effect of human art and therefore if
you will have YOUR notes protected from
forgery you mutt have recour1e to fome
means which are the effects of nature.
1t appears that notvtthfanding the certi-
hcate procured in favour of the Stereotype
plan, that the Editor of the Enquirer fill
thinks it liableto the obie6tioaswhiCh 1or-
merry fuggefted, and has gone n little way
In explaining an objection which ihave iut
hintedviz: the pofibility eliminating the eff
ectsofthete plates upon paper. Al~thoughthe
Edltoris certainly correct in this obfervati-
On as it rcfpcctS the Stereotype, ne is GER
tainly incorrect in the observation when he
fays, that tbs fame objection will apply to
my invention of the back fluff plates. He
then givesa ihort account of the manner Oh;
making thefe plates, but has omitted a very
ehentlai part, namely, that of hardening
the feel on which the note is engraved.
This hardening deiroys the malleabil;ty OF
the metal and facilitates the cracking of
the plate. Let plates be prepared in this
way, and l repeat my former afertion, that
" no marks made either byatooI OF by etch-
ing, Can even tolerably initiate the very pc.
culiar imprehion which this broken feel
delivers" The Enquirer very tlIly obfcrves
:" why this irrprelfion is 70 peculiar that no
engraver's art can initiate it, he has aligned
not 4 Jingle reafOn." The reafon there
NdS nv dtO dIliENCQ Ndo1 DS[dllC HG
thought that every man of reafon could
find 80 the reaion himftlf. Yet as with
to give every fati5faction upon this fubieGt,
1oGer thefollowing reafon: frft, becaufe the
cracks in the feel are not the works eff art,
but the effect OF nature, Tor as iome would
term If chance or accident, and the dire6ti-
, on of thefe cracks axe no more under the
controul of human art, than the filming of
the fun o. the motion Of the clouds.
therefore being a work of nature it
cannot be produced by art, confequently
not by the Engravers art. A fecond reafon
] aflign is, TIT any lines engraved or etched
TO initiate thefe cracks mutt take away a
part of the furface Of the plate, which ia
not the cafe with the futures occafoned in
the plate by the concuiionit fufains at the
time it receives the ftroke of a hammer.
They take away no part OF the plate and
their effect upon paper will be exceedingly
different from theie lines or marks that have
been o%ccafoned by cutting the piece out.
For inftance, let the margin oEthe Enquirer
be torn, and then let the Editor or any o.
ther perfon endeayour to initiate that rent
by a knife, fcillors or by any other inltru-
tnent, and if they fucceed, / hall give up
my project. If this cannot politely be ef-
fcGted upon paper, how is it TO be expected,
that 1t can be effected upon metal But il
will be faid, That the Bank note produced
in this way is nil nothing but paper and
ink and that the proficicnts in the imita.
tive art may produce its ~refernblance. Yes,
J grant that its resemblance may be produ.
ced, but not fuch an one as can impofe IN.
on a perfon Of common fenfe who is Only
yyyargIJ, arrf1atnfeI MIL, n,,I ..,... 4.