Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1888-03-25
A DANGEROUS SIS BILL.
A Clever COustcrfeit OF q silver Ger
fiGcate and Its Defects.
lChicsgo Herald, March 2ist.I

tChicago Herald, March 2lst.l
Ten days ago the Chicago National
Bank clerks noticed in a deposit made
by a regular patron a s. bill, silver
certificate, which drew first their atten-
ton and then their magnifying-glasses
by its unusually light color. They took
il to the First National Bank, the Off
cialq of which declared it genuine. Be
ing dissatisfied, they sent it TO the 1rea-
sury Department at Washington, from
which it was returned marked "coun-
terfeit" Since that time three SINH
lar bills have been offered at the
Chicago National Bank, two at
the Commercial National. three at the
Traders, and two at Gerhard Forman's
bank, and within the last two days they
have been very freely circulated among
West-Side tradesman, ladies, and others
not accustomed to critically examine
money received. The Chicago National
Bank depositors we're sstonished to lind
the bills declared counterfeit, and could
not tell from whom they received them.
The matter OF attempting 10 run down
the expert counterfeiters has been placed
in the hands of the secretservice Off
Gals.
The counterfeit is very clever, but with
a careful reading OF the subjoined de-
scriptive comparison it is believed no
careful person need be deceived by it:
The counterfeit front in general col
oring and shading is much lighter and
greatly inferior TO that Of the genuine.
Especially is this noticeable in the Wig
nette around the head of General Grant
and encircling the numeral V and the
figure "5." The stipple work surround
ing the vignette is not nearly so artls-
ticallv worked as in the genuine,
nor is it so dark colored. The hair
lines in Grants beard are also much
lighter than i'll the genuine. The wreath
beneath the vignette in the genuine is
exceedingly delicately worked and will
stand the test, so far as lines are con-
cerned, under the magniiying-glass, and
show perfection, which the counterfeit
will not. The scrollwork around the V
and "5" in the genuine under a magni-
fyinQ- glass will be found to be exceed
ingly fine and perfectly regular in Its
construction, and does not interlap as
in the counterfeit. Experts disagree
as to whether or not the scroll
work on the counterfeit is by hand or
lathe however, it is more irregular than
in the genuine. The silk threads run
ming across the face of the genuine seem
to be lacking in the counterfeit but if a
line is detected there it is ruled in ink,
which can readily be detected because OF
its being heavier than the genuine silk
thread, and in the specimen seen yester-
day is not a thread at all, but line
drawn straight from edge to edge OF the
note.
The seal in the counterfeit is about a
sixteenth of an inch nearer the edge OF
the bill than the genuine, and IN the
kew shown in the seal in the genuine bill
the notch shows up in white as letter
Il, with the top against the key-bar,
while in the counterfeit the white notch
locks the top wings, or resembles capt.
tai 81" This difference can be readily
detected by the naked eye.
The RAYS of white lines radiating from
the Roman mineral v, in which is tech
nically termed the engine-turned work,
end in well-defined feathers or arrow
shaped tips in the genuine, while in the
other they end in a misty, underlined
manner. The wart appearing on the
genuine at the side of General Grants
nose is wanting in the bogus bill, hence
" No wart, no good"
On the back of the counterfeit the
execution of the designs is almost per-
feet, with the exception of the light de-
fective coloring, which is as marked as
on the front. The shading of the figure
head in the centre on the counterfeit
runs nearly the same over the entire five
medallions of silver dollars. while on the
genuine the shading grows much heavier
as it goes upward. The lettering and
figures on tho counterfeit are almost
perfect.
Altogether, it is by far the most dan
gerous counterfeit that has been in cir
culation Tor a long time, and the fact
that so many samples of the counterfeit
have been presented recently would in
dictate that a large number OF them are
already in circulation.