Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1858-07-18
Counterfeit, Spurious and Altered Bank
NOtes.


The continued increase in the circulation Of coun
terfst money has been before alluded in paper
Il surely tends 10 undermine and debase our curren
CIV; and il has thus far set st defiance all for
its CELEBRATION and suppression. Since there seems
to be no Of preventing the secret creation Of
spurious bills, aud there is certain safeguard
against imitation must rest satisfied with simple
explanations aad warnings. With proper regard
for the interest Of our subscribers, We present TO
them such suggestions as experience has taught US
are both useful and necessary in handling paper
money.
Spurious bank notes may be divided into three
general varieties.
First-Imiatons Of the genuine, which are pro
dueed either by engraving photography, or litho
graPhy.
Second-Notes that are entirely unlike the gen
uiue bills Of the banks by which they puTport TO be
issued except in the title and location. These bills
are, however, especially dangerous, as they
nearly always made from the impressions of plates
designed aud executed by Of our best bank note
epgravers for institutions which in some cases failed,
but Oiteuer proved TO be fraudulent. Many Of these
notes there lore, besides bearing name common TO
good banks in different sections of the country have
a So vignetls aud engraving which are TO be found
on the issues of other banks.
Third-Genuine bank bills Of a small denomina-
ton which have been altered or raised to larger,
as for instance: q genuine one may be altered TO
ten or twenty dollar bill. This operation is
letters of the small note pieces Of paper which
printed figures and letters representing higher
denomination. Another method is to totally oblit
crate the original denomination, by means Of chem
icals and print in its place numbers representing
larger amount.
Eyaragsd limitations are always imperfect, in con-
sequence Of portions Of the genuine being engraved
be expensive machinery, which couuterfeiters do
not possess Therefore, 10 detect them the engrav-
ing must be infinitely and critically examined. If
human figures are represented, examine the eyes,
bsir arms hands and drapety. The skies are sell
dom well done in counterfeits, being " Wiry and
soratohy," to use engraVers expression, while
in genuine engraVings they are soft and even. The
geomelric lathe work 1.-THE ornamental ovals and
circles on which the denominations are plsced) can
never be well initiated by hand. In the genuine
the white lines Of the lathe work cross each other
clearly and sharply, leaving small black diamonds
between them, while in cOunterleis an imitation is
attemuted bv "a confused mass of irregular dots,
the white lines seldom appearing clear and distinct.
The letters CON- rising the titles Of banks generally
have shadow, which, in the genuine, is engraved
bV machine work, and is perfect, not a line being
out oil place whilst in c0uuerfeis it will be seen
on close inspection, that some lines are thicker than
others and wider apart. The same may be said of
parts Of the bill where there are fats, even tints
These differences eau OILY be noticed by close and
minnie inspection. Any person by the observation
aud study Of well engraved notes. can learn to detect
counterfeit engraving. All rules or suggestions
are of no avail unless they do. Some people judge
only by the general appearance Of note without
examination of the engraving This is we'll in con-
nectiOn With the preceding suggestions, but it will
not do to trust that alone,
PHgToGRAPHs The rapid advance and perfection
Of photography, as a means Of porraying objects,
has not escaped the notice Of counterfeiters. So
admirable are some Of those limitations said to be,
so delicate in their tone and 6nish that persons uu-
less they are competent judges will be deceived
after the closest scrutiny. If the Photographic art
still continues to improve under the experiments
and discoveries Of chemists il certainly behoOves
the directors of banks and bank note engrayers to
leave no stone Unturned which will provide new
for the security Of an otherwise useless cur
rency. Atpresent, if the bill presented is aphoto
graph, it will rarely possess the deep, rich black
which denotes the genuine: they are almost always
Of brown or purple tiDge. In such cases, the
experiment Of moistening the note, then touchnglt
with a drop of cyanide of potassium will result in
the complete CELEBRATION Of the color, leaving the
paper white.
Altered, or raised genuine notes, are ottentimes
so well done as to puzzle the hest judges Of money.
Those which altered by the 'pastiDg operation
can generally be detected By holding them 10 the
Hght-the pasted parts being thicker than the rest
of the note Those altered Oy erasiDg the original
figures, and printing in their places those Of a
higher denomination, are more difficult to detect
In applying the chemicals, the signatures are often
damaged, aud have TO be retOuched; when this IS
done, II can easily be seen on close Inspection Inc
shading of the words ire dollars ten doltET Nc IN
The centre Of the note, beneath the title Of the
bank, is always imperfect.
BY far the larger proportion Of counterfeits that
have been put in circulation during the past few
years have been entirely unlike the genuine notes
Of the bank they purported TO represent. They ere
in the most instances altered from broken bank
notes by changing the title location, and officers
names Therefore, these parts should be scrud-
nizsd closely In taking out the original names the
paper is usually more CT less injured, giving the
adjacent engraving q rough and inferior look, com
Tarea with that Of the rest Of the bill Large mum
hers Of plates Fih general titles, such as Farmers
Bank, Exchange hauE, SC, can be easily altered
TO banks Of The same name in different localities,
and these have been reaTrsnged hy persons who
have come into possession Of some Of the machine
~ snd genuine dies of the defunct engraving com
panies. Such notes, TO any one accustomed TO
handling money, have a suspicious look, aud can be
easily detected but to those who not, the best
course is to consult reliable register deteetor Of
counterfsits Bank Note Register