The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1888-05-17
ENGRAVING A"aREENBACK."
A Brief Explanation OF the Various Process
es by Which the Work IL Done.
(From the Philadelphia Times)

| (From the Philadelphia Times)
So vague is the general idea as to how
q bank note is made that we propose to
explain briefly the various processes it
goes through before it is issued as u part
Of the "money of the realm" saying, by
way of introduction, that this country
leads the world in bank-note engraving.
| Unfortunately, the first consideration in
making bank nOto is to prevent bad
men from making a counterfeit of it, and
therefore all the notes of certain de-
nomination or value must be exact dupli-
Gates of each other. If they were engra-
we'd by hand this would not be the case;
and, another thing, hand engraving is
more easily counterfcited than the work
done by the processes which we are
going to describe.
Every note is printed from a steel
plate, i'll the preparation OF which many
persons take part. If you will look ut
u fvo-dollar "greenback" You will sec a
plct ire i'll the contre; small portrait
called vignotte, on the left, and in each
of the upper corners network of fine
lines with dark ground, ono Of them
containing the letter V and the other the
| hguo D.. These four parts are made on
separate plates. 70 make IL vignctte it is
necessary first to make n large drawing
on paper with great care, aud n daglIer-
"H@SEpe is then tukon Of the drawing the
slzo of the engraving desired
lngucrreotypo is then gwen to the
E yer. who uses steel point to mark
all the outlines of the picture. The
,t Is mixed and prlut taken from it.
lc the ink is still damp the print il
'nco down on steel plate, which
cen softencd 10y hc,ting it red hot
md letting cool slowly. 1t is then
press and an exact copy of the
me Is thus made on thu steel plate
tho engraver finishes with his
'cr, tool with n three. corneroI point,
en- cuts clean line without leaving a
sh edge.
ow, this plato is used for making
n plates it is never used to print
1t must be made worry hard, and
=: done by heating it and cooling it
~. little roller Of softcncd steel
rolled over it by n powerful ma
=" 1tll It's surface has been forced
All the lines cutintn the plate The
lines OF the vigncttc are thus transfer
to the roller i'll raised lines, and after
E roller Is hardened it il used to roll
rH plates of softcncd steel and thus
&c in them sunken lines exactly like
SO in the plate originally engraved.
he centre picture Is engraved and
nsferred to II roller like the vignctte,
the network i'll the upper corners
also on the back Of the note, is made
the lathe. This machine costs s., 900,
rice that puts it beyond tho reach of
nterfeitcrs, and its work is SO perfect
it cannot be initiated by hand The
70 engravcs tho network on softened
,Eand the figure in the middle of it is
- engraved ly hand. 1t il now hard
and transferred to roller like the
Jo4.ers.
The plate from which the notes are to
be printed is of softcncd steel and large
enough to print four notes at once
-Four engravlngs of the notes must,
therefore, be made on it, an this is done
by rolling the hardened steel rollers COLI
tanning the raised pictures over it in their
appropriate places until the pictures are
pressed into its surface. The fine letter
ing around the border of the note is
transferred in the same way, but the other
lettering ID put on by hand. This process
saves great deal of time and it secures
absolute uniformity III the four engrav
ings on theplate.
The black parts of the notc are printed
first, and when tho ink is dry the green
back is printed, to be followed by the
rcd stamps and numbers. 1t is then
signed and issued. For greater security, |
one part of the note is engraved and
printed at one place and another part at
another place, when it is sent to Wash
ington to bo finished and signed.
But oven after all this caro- and oil
these safeguards, many Skilfnlly executed
counterfeits have been made and issued,
some of them so good as to deceive the
most export judges Of money.