Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1885-02-05
COUNTERFEIT NOTES.
New Processes by Which They Are Made
and How to Detect Thenl-Pho-
tography's Aid Called In

toSraphy'S Ala Called In.
1.-The photographed counterfeit bank
bill is very common said John S.
Dye, Government counterfeit detective,
yesterday. There are two processes,
called the old and the new. BY the
old process the whole of the back of
the note is copied and appears in black
on the photograph. 1t is then tinted
with pens and brushes by hand. The
black, however. can be seen under the
tint, which on the seal is blotted and
covers the white lines which appear in
the genuine note. The numbering is
also blurred with color and the whole
Of the tinting on the back of the note is
badly done and incomplete.
THE detection of the photographed
counterfeits depends on a critical OBJ
seryation of their character and appear
ance. Unless they are perfectly new,
they are off color, and show the red
dish brown, peculiar to faded photo
graphs. BY the new process the seal,
numbers, and color-work on the back,
whether pink, carmine, chocolate, or
green. are first entirely removed from
the note, to be initiated. A negative
is then taken from the black which re-
mains. To produce the color-work an
engraved plate of the seal, and the
tinted part of the back are used and
the tints are clearly surface-printed
in their places. The numbers are also
printed in colors from separate engrav-
ed figures used in combination and
changeable. These figures are well
done and run in a series, and unlike
the spurious bills made by the old pro-
cess, are really dangerous.
IAN genuine bills are printed from
plates made four in set and lettered
respectively A, b, G and ID, except in a
few cases where certain banks have
been supplied with bills lettered respec-
lively L, +, G and H. These are called
check letters, and appear in various
places upon the face of notes or bills,
according to their issue and denomina-
ton. Now here is the description of a
counterfeit bill, taken in New York
City a few days ago: Check letter A,
series 1875, act of March 8, 1868,
Treasury number B3i20232. plate %,
John Allison, Register; A u. Wyman,
Treasurer 1t is one of the old style
photographs, printed on plain paper.
coarse and heavy. The seal and cyloid
work are very pale and the numbering
fair. The latle-work on back and in
two counters on the face is so blurred
that hardly line can be seen. The
ink and red numbers are very good so
far as the shade of color goes. The
note on face has blurred appearance
and is very dark. 1t is of the same
length as the genuine bill. The eoun-
terfeit is not dangerous, but well cal
culated to deceive the inexperienced.
Immigrants are the most frequent
dupes.
zone of the cleverest engravers of
counterfeit plates of modern times is
Charles I. Ulrich. In 1876 he lived at
Sixth and Cumberland streets in this
city. A man named Henry c. Cole
was his business partner, and Jacob
OFT. German photographer, did the
printing. In 1877 Ulrich went to live
with the OFT family at Oak Lane, on
the North Penn Railroad, and there
finished the plate of $50 counterfeit
In the same house the bills were print
ed. These We're limitations of bills on
the Central National Bank of New
York City and the Third National Bank
of Buffalo, N. Y. 1t so happens, also,
that all the $40 national bank counter
feits. including eight different banks in
the State of New York seven of which
were in the city-were printed from
one engraved plate. The simple
change from one bank to another was
done by the use of skeleton plates.
"One hundred thousand dollars
worth of these fifties was printed in
OTIS house The greater part of them
was sold by Cole and carried to Ger
many by j. i. Conkling and John
Baker and there passed off on the
bankers and people None of them were
put in circulation in the United States
before they had been circulated in Ger
many, nor until large number of
them were brought back all at once to
New York by immigrants on the Ger
man steamer Herder. May %, 1878.
1.-The discovery was made by w.
Hoffman, the expert at the office of the
Pennsylvania Railroad company, at
which office ffty-dollar bill on the
National Broadway bank, of New York
City, had been rendered by Mr.. Jos
eph. He claimed to have received the
bill from Israel & CO., bankers at Ham
burg, and the immigrants on the Herd
or were soon found passing similar
counterfcits. Subsequently each steam
er from Germany brought quantities of
these bills, which werel'sho ed in Eu-
rope until the capture at Munich OF j.
f. Conkling and his associates.
''Are there any other methods of
counterfeiting beside photography and
engtayingP"
''Oh, yes; but they ar easily detect
ed, being generally clulnsily executed.
There are Autographs, ctchings, and
pen-work counterfeits. Spurious 81
and 81 United States Treasury notes
are of this kind, and it Is only on ac-
count of their small denomination that
they have any circulation. Then, again,
the Signette heads are occasionally cut
from notes of small value, the back re-
moved and the face neatly ccmented
over the inferior work of poor iiflies,
which are thus made passable.
How are the public to discriminate
between genuine bills and forgeries."
"Well. of course, therein lies the pos
sibility of successful forgeries. If the
general public was SO wen acquainted
with the appearance of genuine bills as
instantly to be able to detect spurious
ones, the courterfeiter's occupation
would be gone. Whenever a counter
felt with the exception of a photo
graphic, photographic, acid etching, or
pen made one, any of which frauds
should be detected at a glance of a
national bank bill appears. the genuine
bill is as rapidly rs possible Withdrawn
from circulation. The fact that coun-
terfeit has been showed is published
rs soon as it is discovered and it is the
duty of everybody to thereafter refuse
or be very careful in accepting bills of
that denomination. We are even now
expecting that in short time new
spurious bill will be showed We
have not yet traced it to its origin, but
we have our eyes open and are on the
lookout. " MiiJde{phia Times