Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1874-08-21
COUNTERFEIT MONEY.
Some of the Drawbacks of Paper
hs-r Money. el2.arl
The Result of fen Years Work
by the Manufacturers OF
"Queer Currency"


Aet, York journal Of Commerce furnishes
list Of National Banks, whose notes have
been eounterfeited, The list shows that a |
surprising number Of base limitations Of our |
national promises 70 pay have been issued
and are pow in circulation. The Nelo YORK |
EceniHg Post has an article on the same
subject which gives some interesting infor-
nation. 1t is hardly necessary TO recall
the trying time Of 1851, says The Post,
when the morning pspes were bought with
postage stamps, and the office boys occupied
their spare moments in cleaing
bunches Of dirty paper for
their employers, as the incon-
venience is fresh in the minds Of most Peo-
pie. While postage stamps were good only /
for the puTpoee for which they were made,
ecunterfeits were unknown, and attempts
70 use Cancelled stamps rare. As soon, how
ever, as they beeasi to be looked upon Is
money, exclanseable for trips TO Harlem,
or seats at a theatre, q surprising number
Of spurious stamps found their way Into
circulation. In desperation the Govern.
menf adOped The suggestion which had
been offered By the sudden conversion Of
E.Dosfac,. stamps to money and issued vast
kesas.tsps- <zoossa sagc- -eEtFrerry5 " WY
taken up with avidity and the demand for
paper for a long time exceeded the supply.
The cupidity of designing men detected IN
the new ''shinpl&ster' an opportunity for
profitable frauds. Almost simultaneously,
1t seemed, with the appearance Of the
green and brown notes came the base i'm.
| itations.
While the genuine nOteswere still scarce,
and before people away from the great
cities hid Lad opportunities 60 compare
hostage currency with ANYTHING but local
substitutes for mOney-baker's checks, cor
pOration promises, grOcers' Onder, and the
| iike-the cOunterfeiters piled their trade
| industriously, and before the government
| detectives had made their first seizure the
baser paper was so plentiful that it was
] deemed expedient TO issue another form of
currency in orler to relieve the people of
the mass of bad money. Since that time
! il has been found necessary TO renew the
currency at short intervals, partly on ac-
eOnnt Of the vigilance Of counterfeiteFs, and
also IN consequence Of the cheap and
! finlsy character Of some of the notes IS
sued. -
| A COLLECTION OF C0UNTEIFEIrs.
Mr.. Phillip ID. Gulager, Of the sub-treas-
ury in this city, has been in the employ OF
the United States Treasury in connection
with the fractional currency redemption
department for more than ten years. For
most Of that time he has been engaged in
sorting and examining packages Of mutila-
| ted or soiled money deposited for redemp-
tion. In the course of this work he has
developed what would seem to outsiders
to be almost an instinct for the detection OF
] spurious paper. He says that a counterfeit
| is hot in his hand, and he drops it meehan-
| ically, so familiar has he become with the
peculiar texture Of the genuine article.
IL is customary when package Of cur
rency is deposited for redemption, to eX-
anime it first, with the view Of rejecting
| counterfeits, if il contain any. The bad
| money is then stamped across its face with
a hot iron. and returned 10 the deposltoT
with the word counterfeit" scOrched upon
| il in bold characters which would render a
| uncurrent even in the ale-hOuse or ''bucket
shops" where, il is understood, they are
not at all particular about fine lines IN cur
rency. r-..s
Out Of the vast number of counterfeits
which have passed through Mr.. Gulager's
| hands, he has selected upwards Of hundred
specimens, representing every imitation OF
every issue which has yet appeared at the
| New York sub-treasuTy.
POSTAGE CURRENCY.
These specimens are contained In a scrap
hook. They are mostly distinct counter
| feits: and although some Of the denomina-
tfons are represented by a score or more of
limitations. there are very few duplicates.
For instance, there are eight tens Of the first
issue Of postage currency They bear
face which no more resembles that Of the
father of his country than did the much
ridiculed statue in the City Hall park
They are all prepOsterOusly bad, for the
| counterfeiter cannot afford 20 waste time
ON small denominations. Few of these
were 10 circulation. OF the twenty-fives
tben, was flood Of imita-
tions. Indeed. of all denOmina-
tions OF the postage currency there
was TOO great an abundance, as much as
thirty dollars worth of il having been
branded as spurious in single day. The
spurious ffties wen, very numerous. The
class of engTayeTs who executed the work
upon them must have been inferior. The
five faces are ridiculous burleSqueS in every
instance, no two of them being alike. The
government paid a very dear price for the
exclusive use of a green iiuid with which
70 print the faces of these notes, which the
eoanterfeiters initiated to greater degree
of perfection than any other part Of the
note. One specimen is blue, having prob
ably changed color after printing.
FRACTIONAL CURRENCY.
Wien the Treasury Department issued
the first series Of fractional currency notes,
the postage currency was withdrawn. Then
came into use those hideOus little notes,
evolved from the Treasury printing offices,
whose crowded fronts and variagated backs
provoked unmitigated detestatiOn. The
ring of gold upon the face of this sort was
A mercy to the debaser of currency, as il
. helped him TO hide his bOtches. Mr.. Gull
, acer has a package Of twenty-seven ffties
of this issue, all Of which were presented
by man who admitted, when informed
, that they were eOunterfeits, that he had
felt some misgivings about their genuine
ness, but had collected them in the course
of business with sufficient care. There
were few or no limitations Of the twenty
fiyes of this issue, the fact being accounted
for, perhaps, by the difficulty of initiating
! the purple ink with which the backs were
printed.
The day of small notes was followed by
. that of enlarged and complicated ones
The bronze still found favor at Washing
. ton, and the specimens of gliding done by
, the eounterfeiters are almost equal to TIN
; originals. Great difficulty seems to hay'
: been experienced in successfully initiating
| the paper. Yet still the bad money fowet
| in, to be easily detected and destroyed
l With the fifties bearing the head OF Mr.
{ Spinner, of whom there are six limitations
4 poor success was met by the counterfelters
e Some of the worst specimens in the collec
D tion are tWentY-fives bearing portrait
Mr.. Fessenden. whose features are 8
coarsely copied as to make the counterfei
a impracticable. except with the very care
| less. The lettering Of this note was ais,
{ very poorly executed, while the lathe-wori
I upOn the back would not bear examination
: Three remarkably fine limitations o
s the fifties, bearing the portrait OF Lin
1 coin on the right end, are included in tn
a number. the greatest blemish being the de
e fective copying Of the face, which eoun
). terfeiters have not the skill or the patienc
J: to reproduce faithfully from the original
0 The more recent notes Of this denomlna
e tion, ornamented with the portrait OF Sec
r retaryl Stanton, Of which Alr. Guiager ha
81 seven specimens, was so eleyerly produce
as to pass without suspicion throug
}: the hands of most persons. b
e this time, however, the government
n had found an obstacle against which all th
o efforts of couuterfeiterS have IS vet, it Is bt