Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1891-04-25
DOUBLE DENOMINATION BILLS.
They Were Printed by the Government and
Puzzled Their Owners.

They " ere PRINTED ny the government ana
Puzzled Their Owners.
The officials OF the bureau of engrav-
ing and printing at Washington not
long ago received from the cashier of
the First national bank at Washing
ton, n. j., bank note of two denomina-
tions. BY some remarkable mistake
the face of the note contained the
figures and devices of a twenty dollar
bill, while the reverse was that of a
ten dollar national bank note.
With the curiosity the cashier of the
bank of Washington, n. j., sent
rather sarcastic note, intimating that
his bank was not going into the freak
business, and adding that as the note
had been counted as a twenty dollar
bill, he would thank the treasury de-
partment to send in place of it a bill of
that denomination about which there
could be no question.
Upon receiving the letter and en-
closure the treasury officials requested
Gen. Meredith, the chief of the bureau
of engraving and printing, to have a
most searching investigation made.
Gen. Meredith was at first alarmed at
the evidence of some glaring oversight
on the part of some of his subordinates.
The bureau of engraving and printing
has always been considered a marvel of
perfect surveillance and continual check
and counter check on every little detail.
Ia all it's history it has never lost by
theft single note, and mistake of
the nature described was considered
among the impossibilities.
The mistake having occurred in one
instance, however, General Meredith
feared that it might have been repeated
In others. All bank notes are printed
in blocks of four on one sheet and 25C
sheets are in bundle, so that there ara
always 1000 notes worked off at one
printing. The thought. occurred to the
chief that perhaps the entire last issue
of tens and twenties for the New Jersey
bank was made up of the &ybrids.
The investigation was prosecuted
with vigor, and at last the cause of the
trouble was discovered 1t appears thai
in printing the tens and twenties the
four notes struck off at one time are no
all of the same denomination. There
are always three of one kind and th'
fourth of another; in this instance three
tens and one twenty.
The plate printers were examined
and one of them recollected that wheI
the particular notes were being printe
one sheet of three tens and one twenty
after being printed on one side only
had fallen to the floor.
The explanation of the misprint wa
then easy. The assistant pressman VIII
had picked up the sheet had misplace
it on the bundle. When the second in
preston was made on the face of TIL
twenty was printed the reverse of ter
and vice versa; the face of one of til
three tens was backed by the reverse {
the twenty; hence there were two tel
twenties in the lot.
1t was some months after the dete
tion of the mistake that the mate to I'll
note WAS discovered. 1t turned up
Newark, N. j., after having been
circulation for some. 1t was paid I'M
the office of the Mutual Benefit Life Il
surance Company, and is now in Il
possession cf Mr.. Howard Bailey,
Newark, who has refused to part vii
it at any prtc&-N. Y. Herald.