Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1877-11-03
ABOUT COUNTERFEIT MONET.
SAN ERANCTlCn

SAN FRANCISCO, CAL, Oct. Il, 1877.
Editor Of Evening Stdr:-In your Saturdays
issue of October 9Th (which edition L receive
regularly from homeJ 1 became interested
in an article from the Springfield III } Jour.
nal OF 81 ember n, headed "A II mar Sab e
C"u't r.eit.'
Hav ny in my more than six years expe-
T'xas, as paying and receiving teller, re
Jecttd THOUSAND of dollars of spurious
money, by study, practice aud close a.
tentlOn, b.cO'ne quite ali expert, natu "aly
city, to se the ere, n arkahle" bin m IN TONED
called at the secret service bureau of the
u s. Tr 'asury, aud through the cOu rtesy of
Mr.; BROOKS: made personal examination
captured at 81. Louis. For the purpose OF
sending the Information to some O. my
banking friends, made the following notes
OF my examination, and believe they may
be OF value to some of the bank readers OF
your paper, If you see III TO publish them:
,"Desc'iptton Of Counterfeit 81 900 L1ga Ten.
appearance OF bill very good and work well
executed; paper greasy looking, TO MAKE 1t
appear like genuine tof long use), few of
which are now Ia circulation; In center of
bill vtgnette of Robert Morris, though we'll
formed, looks as II peck marked, and white
OF eyes like pin holes, eyebrows Irregular,
nose as If pinched, and the shadow on its
left near the point seems a part of that organ,
while the genu me has u bright, intelli gent
face, and nose straight and clearly defined;
large words United States rather dark, es-
peclally the shading; lathe WORK in the die
and that In the border well done, but not a.
plain and clear as In the orig nal. All the
lettering on the bill shows the ink plainly,
as IL India Ink This may also b ; said OF
the signatures, looking as If stamped-that
of Spinner's being plain limitations; that of
Cbittenden has striking defect, it's termi
nation forming serpent's head. The back
of the bill shows no prominent defecGs-only
q general diDgy appearance, Toe red seal
not perfectly round"
The chief defect in all counterfeits, no mat.
ter how well executed, is in the express sion OF
the features OF the vignette. Tie effort TO
initiate perfectly this part OF the genuine,
battles the skill OF The best of cOunterfe,Jers.
An expert teller, when counting mOaey rap
idly, must detect the spurious DILL by It's
general appearance, (Which is acquired by
practice and not by any particular part or
parts, as the prominent defects IN counter
feits, even OF the same denomination, are not
always to be found in the same pl ace, so ne
times occurring IN the vignette sOmeti mes In
the die-the lathe work, the lettering, the
numbers, the seal, the signature, or the shad-
ing; some of these being brought nearer to
perfection than others, according to the skill
OF the imitstor. When the general appear
ance of the DILL arrests the attention, then a
closer scrutiny enables pro ,npt decision To
be made, in case of doub out Il careful De-
rusal of each bill caanot conveniently be
made by bank tellers, requiring TOD much
time and retarding business.
In the article of the Spring field JO,1adl 1
notice one or two mistakes in regard 10 THIS
large counterfeit, which may leaf the public
astray. 1t states IL TO be OF the tissue OF
1862" and "discOvered only four months
back" The 81 900 greenback issue OF 1863
has q representation of Columbus in q sit
ting posture, and the portrait OF De Witt
Clinton. and no counterfeit has ever been made
Of IL, SO far as known. The capture of the
remarkable" bogus 81 900 greenback was
made as far back as last January, In which
month made the examination of the first
one forwarded To the Treasury.
In connection with this Ii may not be out
Of place 70 add, that in my position ~ teller
in Texas, the rejection OF cOunterfeits was so
frequent, In fact almost daily occurrence,
that at one time concluded to crafty curl
Osity, aud made q memoranda eacn day for
one year, OF all cOunJerfeits presented am ong
other money for deposit During that period
the number "thrown out" aggregated three
thou u dollars, including bills of all de-
nominations. both national and legal tender
and some gold and silver coins from the SO
gold piece down 10 the Insignificant lead,
S cents. AS a majority the poor are the
greatest sufferers by the circulation of this
bad money. The greater portion OF IL is dis
trihut among the emigrant populated
states aud very little In the large cities ex-
cept In cases where the bills are OF large de-
nomination, required for extensive business
transact ions. The detective force IL far
| from being adequate in number syste n 70
protect the public against this nefariOus bus
! mess There Ia vast room for Improvement
Respectfully, w. E. HERrFoRD,
6O9 Bush street,
Late Nat. Bank Agent 1t Washington, D. G.