Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1881-07-23
MAKING BOGUS MONEY.

MAKING BOGUS MONEY.
PRECAUTIONS TAKEN By THE GOVERNMENT To
PREVENT c0UNTERFETISG-A TALK WITH THE
CHIEF ENGRAvER OF oUR NATIONAL NOTES.
There is no criminal more interesting than the
successful counterfeiter. He unites the boldness
OF the burglar and the plausibility of the conf
| dence man with the finest technical skill. The
mystery that surrounds the CONFERENCE.-The
| secret ways of work-and the popular notion
| that he must roll in counterfeit wealth, also
lends an interest to criminals of this sort. which
no other offenders excite. Such great skill is
required to counterfeit bank notes and govern
ment notes, 80 that they will deceive even the
casual observer, that the road to an ill-gotten
| fortune, by way of counterfeiting is not open to
| the great mass of criminally disposed people.
Counterfeiting has been made
REGULAR BUSINESS
oy few parties. Generally three or four par
Ties, each being especially qualified for some one
branch OF the business work together Some
times one man is at the head of the establish
nent ana ne employs his assistants. In book
Kept Dy Mr. George W. Castelar, superintendent
| OF the engraving division of the Bureau of En-
craving and Printing, are specimens o: all the
most noted and most ceverly executed counter
Ieits that nave appeared during the last twenty
years. IN war times and Immediately after
counterfeiters thrived. The shinplasters af-
iorded wide field for them to work in. Even
puhgnng limitations passed current. as the peo-
pie would take anything in the shape of money
Without much question. Since those DAYS such
great precautions have been adopted by t.e gov
ernment and such talent employed both by the
government and the bank note companies that
none but the finest workmen can hope to make
a counterfeit that would pass careful inspection,
though counterfetS which the stupidest bank
clerk would throw out at glance have been
known to circulate a long time before being dis
covered Besides the skill of the engraver and
the other
CHECKS EMPLOYED
III the engraving department, the government
few years ago began using distinctive paper
before that the bank note companies had used
ordinary commercial paper
"All the national bank notes. said Mr.. CAST
lear to STAR reporter, shave been counter
feited. 1t is about time there was new issue
with new designs. All the greenbacks en-
grayed by the bank note company-of
every denomination--have been counterfeited.
Mhen the government began printing
these notes they were gotten up with great
deal OF care. The distinctive paper was insti-
tuted What was called the localized fiber
paper was first used. Now the paper has two
SILK strands running parallel with the note
when Mr. Sherman became Secretary of the
treasury he found that the government had no
exclusive right to the fiber papcr. no proprie-
tary interest in it, although it was paying a
mgn price for it. So he advertised for proposals
Ior furnishing paper, and the result was the
adoption of the paper with parallel strands
~" wv as TINS idea of fbered paper new?"
stamps in Germany, and also in
newspaper envelopes and bills of exchange.
Ihere is nothing new about it. 1t would be diff
hcuit for counterfeter to get it, though. He
might initiate it, but to get the paper he would
have to take the paper maker in his confidence
They do not attempt to counterfeit the paper
IL has been initiated by scratching the plate with
me lines. great many counterfeit plates have
peen made OF the national bank currency. You
can see how wide field they have. There are
|,OVO national banks, and all use
NOTES OF THE SAME DESIGN.
Having engraved the general design of the
note. all the counterfeiter has to do is to make
skeleton plate, with the title Of the bank and
the names of the bank officers These sigma
lures he engraves in light lines and then goes
over them with ink. This plate he uses until he
is found out. Then he engraves the name of
another bank on skeleton plate. In these ma
tlonal bank notes distinctive paper does not
amount to much, as the notes are all covered.
In our own notes the design is more open Then
with our notes We have met with great success
because each issue has distinctive portrait en-
grayed upon it. Pew engrayers excel as por-
trait engravers, as in work of another character.
There is a character or expression about a por-
trait which cannot be copied"
THE GE0METRIcAL LATHE.
A great impeachment in the way of successfully
couterfeitlng the government notes is the work
executed by the geometric lathe The lathe is a
machine which cuts on the plates the SYMMETRY
Cal scrolls and curves fine that it confuses the
eye to pick them out. Every time the screws
are turned the lathe makes a new design, which
could not be reFrDdnced even at the Bureau of
Engraving aad Printing, unless an accurate rec,
ord OF the position of every screw was kent.
The lathe, like Kaleidoscope is capable of an
endless variety OF combinations. Altering any
OF the eccentrics alters the whole combination
There is No use trying to counterfeit it" said
MI CASTELAR,. The only way one can make an
approximate copy is by hand. Some of them do
it very well is, some two or three"
These notes, continued Mr. CASTELAR,, referring
to the q S. greenbacks. 'haye been before the
public since 1889: There have been only two
counterfets of them made, showing the super
iority OF the notes engraved here. These were
$50 and $500 notes. When the counterfeits
were discovered the old designs were aban-
doned. New ones were issued. OF the green
back issue. which was in service up to 1863. each
tent. OF the tens and twenties fifteen or
twenty counterfets were made. This lathe
work aids in preventing anything of the kind
Every section OF our work has varied pattern
~ ohat eiC COUutCliCitcI WOulu nave To COun-
terfeit the whole thing. On the old notes he
could copy one section and then repeat it'
II should think the cOunterfeiters would turn
their attention to counterfeiting the notes of
other governments" said THE STAR
SIN other countries cOunterfeiters when de-
tected are very severely punished If we should
punish these men so as to give them their full
deserts when we catch them there would be less
cOunterfeiting. There is Doyle in Chicago He
was sentenced to ten years in prison. His attor-
neys, of whom he had four, are now pleading to
get him a new trial. They will succeed per-
haps, and when it comes to the trial in all prob
ability he will be acquitted There is Brockway,
who has been counterfeting forty years. Out
of his whole life he has been in prison not more
than two years.
CONTEMPLATING BONDS.
''How about cOunterfeiting bonds ~
"Our bonds, cur four and five per-cents. it is
impossible to counterfeit so as to deceive an ex
pert. They have work chi them that makes them
absolutely secure. Now on the four-per-cents
-; portrait is an absolute check. Very few en-
gravers could counterfeit that"
How do our engravers compare with those of
other lands?"
"The English engravers, in some respects, are