The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-06-26
PAPER MONEY.
Descriptions Of 1t in Our Own and Eu-
ropean Countries.

ropean Countries.
New YORK, June 23-At almost any
hour of tine day eager and hungry-eyed
men and boys may be seen feasting their
eyes on the glittering heaps of coin and
thin bundles Of bank notes spread in
tempting array behind the plate glass
windows of the money changers in Wall
street and vicinity. at is surprising" said
Nassau street broker, "how many
different kinds Of paper we use for cur
rency in the various foreign countries
Each nation seems to have its own particu-
lar kind or brand of paper. Here is a
Bank of England note. 1t is printed on
Irish linen water-lined paper, plain white
with rough edges. You will notice in a
short time how the paper lacks the
smooth, oily feeling of our own bank
notes. Then, again, there Is an absence OF
any coloring except black and white. The
smallest notes issued by the Bank of
England are of the value Of e5 or $25. Tho
old fashion of sending these notes from one
country to another was to cut the note into
two parts, and send the pieces in separate
envelopes; but that is largely done away
with. All such notes finally find their way
back TO the Bank of England, where they
are retired for good. They are never re-
issued, as the bank only sends out new,
clean notes. have heard it said that the
average life of Bank Of England note
was about three weeks. A Bank Of Ireland
note, as you will see, does not differ much
from Bank of England note, except that
it has more elaborate scroll work.
This note with blue and black lettering,
together with numerous symbolical pic
lures is Banque de France note. 1t is
made of plain white paper, and could be
easily initiated ] should think The small
est note issued by the banque is q 20-franc
note, while the largest is the ! 900 francs,
which is equivalent to about $50 of our
money.
Now the German bills are printed in
green upon paper a good deal lighter than
our gold certificates. The Austrian paper
currency is pretty much the same. The
German bills range in denominations from
marks, or 81 25 to 10000 marks, or about
S240 of our money. Very few notice at
first glance that the Austrian bills are
printed i'll German on one side, and in Hun
carian on the other. This is done, as l I'M
derstard it, to accommodate the ten classes
of Francis Joseph's subjects. The paper of
an Austrian bill is very light-colored, but
quite thick and tough. 1t has none of the
fine lines, nor the silk-fibre marks
which are the characteristics of our
national, or United States treasury notes.
The smallest Austrian note is of the value
of guilder or form, nearly 40 cents here.
The largest note issued is Of the value of
900 florins, or 1886 in our money. The
engraver must have been of a religious
turn of mind, if all the angel heads on these
notes are of any indication.
Some European countries get up their
notes regardless of colored ink Thus the
Italian 900 lire note is an elaborate affair.
The paper is plain white, but the printing
is done in pink, blue and carnine. Here is
one which has a very finely engraved Wig
nette of King Humbert, aid the scroll
work will compare favorably with the best
of any currency. The smaller Italian bills
are about the same size as our old fractional
currency. They vary in denomination
from lire, or 20 cents, to 10 lire, or about
81 in our money.
Here, perhaps, is the most gorgeously-
colored bank note of any European country.
1t is q Russian 100 rube bill. 1t has almost
every color of the rainbow, barred from
top to bottom as though it had been thrown
through prism. The 100 ruble bill is quito
large, being, think, by 10 inches in size.
Here, in the center is a portrait of Gather
inc l. The paper is not Of an especially fine
quality, while the lettering is done with
dark and ligut TO Nn ink. The % and 10
ruble notes ara much smaller, and almost
free from any elaborate display Of colors.
The note mostly usei is tue ruble, or
about So % in our money"
After looking at various other specimens
of foreign paper money, we inquired
whether. outside of the business exchanges
there was much used.
Eyes, there is quite call for foreign bills,
especially at this season Of the year, when
so many thousands are going to and coming
from Europe. Curiously enough some peo-
ple will not take paper money. The French
aud Germans almost always ask for coin,
and say that they do not want the paper
bills. The Ausbrians and Hungarians are
lust the opposite. They generally prefer
the paper money OF their own country to
coin, The Americans usually want coin.
As one traveller said to me not long ago,
gold is good for its face value all over the
world. and can get it exchanged if want
bills The Italians who go back to sunny
Italy, ] found, are not very particular.
They would Just as soon take lire notes as
lire coins"
Taking engraving and paper into con-
sideration, what country do you think turns
out the best notes ?"
"Well, with due regard for our English
cousins, | think that the United States
notes beat tho world Take the item of
paper alone. or course, during the rebel
lion the government was obliged to issue
within a very short time enormous amounts
of paper money in place Of gold and silver,
which seemed to have been suddenly swal-
lowed up. The government then used only
plain, commercial banknote paper, which
rave the counterfeters good chance TO
flood the country with notes like the old
greenbaclK issue. But, about twenty years
ago. the Treasury department adopted a
special paper, the distinctive feature OF
which was narrow localized line OF short
blue fiber running the entire leugth Of the
sheet of paper in such a manner as not TO
lessen its strength or interfere with the
printing.
"Did you never examine the paper OF a
United States note under glassT
"No; well, If you would, you would see
that these fibers have TIE appearance OF
coarse black hairs, OF all lengths and shapes,
scattered promiscuously all over the surface
of the note. This kind Of paper Is known
as the Wilcox patent A few years ago the
government adopted another feature OF the
fiber paper with two silk threads running
length wise throughout the glazed surface.
There is now law against person using
or adopting this kind OF paper for any obi
CATION or security, except rnder the author
ity of the Secretary Of the Treasury.
LET me tell you" concluded my patriotic
informant, ''that we make more money and
better money than any other people in the
1ynrid II. V.
summer Tariff.