Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1882-04-13
The Big Greenbacks.

The largest denomination of legal
tenders in existence are the $4,000
notes, none of which have been printed
for two or three years. The next highest
is the $4,000 note, and in succession
follow ST. 900, $500, 800, $50, $40, $40,
SIS, SO and 81. In National Bank cur
rencv there is nothing larger than 81 900,
and the smaller denominations are the
same as in legal tenders. While inter-
nal revenue paper varies in size accord
ing to the use for which it was designed,
some sheets containing forty Or fifty
match stamps, and others only twenty
four Of the beer stamps, bank note paper
is almost invariably 14x13 1-2 inches.
On sheet of this size four notes are
printed, each 1-4x7 1-2 inches, leaving
from three-quarters to one inch for
trimming. On sheets of legal tenders
the denominations are the same, but the
national banks usually have combina-
tions, three los and a 20 on a sheet, or
10, 20, 80 and 100, as may suit the fancy
or convenience of the banker. AS soon
as it is discovered that a note has been
successfully counterfeited new plate is
ordered, the national banks paying 800
for every plate they have made at the
bureau. For some unexplainable reason
the Government is troubled very little
with conterfeits, the present series of
notes having been running since 1S69-70,
while, on the contrary, nearly dozen
national bank plates have been retired
for this reason during the past year.
From the plate-printing room the
freshly mixed sheets are taken to the
counting and examining room, accom-
panied by the printers certificate of the
amount and class Of work done. If
registered" work-that is, if the back
has been printed and one Or more inn
pressions of the face taken, young
lady holds each sheet up to the light to
see if the impressions on back and face
correspond or cover the same spot of
paper, and, if they do not, such sheets
are laid aside, cancelled, and returned
to the Treasury with the finished notes.
Should sheet of notes or stamps be
missing, an investigation is made imme-
diately, and if it is not found, an assess
ment sufficient to cover the face value
of the sheet, whether 81 or $1,000, is
made on the employees in the plate
printing division; and this is also the
rule in all other divisions of the bureau.
If the work is found correct, however,
the sheets are spread out on racks, and
the racks placed in immense drying
ovens, which have a temperature of 160
degrees Fahrenheit. In the evening
these ovens are locked and sealed, and
when opened the following morning the
previous days work is perfectly dry,
when it is returned to the wetting room,
counted, dampened, and sent to the
pressing room, where, under the pow
erful pressure of hydraulic presses, the
sheets are Strengthened out again, for in
the drying oven they pick UP curls and
wrinkles. Then back to the wetting
room they go again, ARE dampened, ''wet
counted,' and given out to the printer
to receive another impression on back
or face. In the course of a few days
these same sheets, if not finished, will
come back to the drying ovens, or hy-
draulic presses again, and thus they
keep going for weeks, always under the
eyes of Waterman, or locked in vault,
until finally ready to 60 to the seal print
ing presses on a lower floor, where the
money not only grows but fairly flies
from four Hoe presses.-N. 7. Sun.