Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-04-14
GOODAS THE GENUINE
A New Issue of Counterfeits Which
Cannot Be Detected.
RESULT OF LATE INVENTIONS.
Even the Special Paper Proves to Afford
No Protection.
THE WORK OF PEN-AND-INK ARTISTS

WASHINGTON. April 13. - The chief
engraver OF the Bureau OF Engraving and
Printing was closeted the other day for a
long while with the Treasurer OF the United
States. Spread before them were two silver
certifcates-one of regular Government is
sue and the other specimen of the new 50
counterfeit which has occasioned such a sem
sation by reason of the perfection of its ex-
ecution. After spending full hour exam
lining the real and the false notes with pow
erful magnifying glasses, the famous expert
in money designing turned to the guardian
of Uncle Sans cash box and said:
"There are no differences.
To such a point, in fact, has the art Of
counterieiting been developed. The work
of the fraudulent money makers is no longer
feebly initiative. Year after year it has
grown more difficult of detection, until at
last 1t may be said that the swindler can
make as good paper dollar as the Govern
ment Is able to produce. A high Treasury
official was asked yesterday what was the
chief difficulty that counterfeiter had to
overcome in the manufacture of a successful
bank note or certificate.
'sHe has no difficulties to encounter" was
the reply. ''The last of them has been
swept away by recent invention. A while
ago, although some of the most skilllul en-
gravers in the world belonged to the GRIM
inal class, their work was, nevertheless.
invariably 6istinguishable from the
true, there being differences beyond
the power OF hands or tools to
avoid. But the new photo-mechanical
processes have revolutionized counterfeit
ing. With no labor worth mentioning. the
camera reproduces the design of a note upon
a metal plate, which, after passing through
a simple etching process, becomes TO
all intents apd purposes a fac simile
OF the original steel engraving, ready
to print the money from. Thanks to
late discoveries in photochromy, the execu-
tion of green backs and red seals in pre-
cisely the proper shades is the easiest thing
in the world. Here is the last report of the
Chief of the Secret Service. He says: The
genuine Government notes nowadays, es-
pecially the series of 1890, are marvels of
the engraver's art, aided by the wonderful
geometric lathe. One would think it i'm
possible to successfully counterfeit such
work, upoa looking over the complex area
of lines and patterns, and yet at this mo-
ment counterfeiters are reproducing it SO
perfectly that the elaborate beauty of this
paper money may be said to offer no protec-
tion to the public or defense against
fraud
"But how aboutImitating the paper?"
The Special Paper No Protection.
"That is no obstacle to the counter:eiter.
The special paper used by the Treasury
doesn't amount to red cent as protec-
tion. How should it? You can buy the
ctt1H 70 ity 1f
stationer's. No, of course it lacks the
threads; but of what use are they? II a
note appears satisfactory in other respects,
who ever thinks of looking for the threads?
Suppose, however, that one did; the
swindler has several way5 of supplying
them. With q ruler and a fine pen, loaded
with light blue ink, he can draw them to
perfection across the face of the note; or he
creases the bill very hard lengthwise with
his thumb nail, so that anybody who is
looking for a thread will swear he sees one
in the fold, the illusion being caused by a
breaking of the fiber in the paper. Possibly
the suspicious person may try to lift out the
thread at q point with pin. II he does, it
is hundred to one that the toughness of the
papers fiber will lead him to think the
thread. is there. Oh, no; the paper is no
safeguard"
"what is to be done. then?"
"It's hard to say. Something has GER
.ainly rot to be done when the Treasury
engravers cannot tell counterfeits from the
work they have themselves executed. /
would suggest that radical changes should
be made respecting the paper on which the
money is printed. Our designs are repro
duced to perfection, therefore we nave moth
ing but the paper to fall back upon. 1t
should be made absolutely distinctive, legal
enactment forbidding the manufacture of
any paper like the money paper of the Gov
ernment. Each denomination of note or
certificate ought to have its own special va
riety of this kind of paper, so that one could
tell a one-dollar bill from i've bv the ieel
merely. True, the paper could be initiated,
but 1t is not possible to make fneF paper
without bulky plant, and all factories
here and abroad would be carefully
watched"
The Most Remarkable Counterfeiter.
A few days ago the Secret Service Bureau
of the Treasury received with renewed ex-
asperation the latest production of the pen
and-ink counterfeiter. This extraordinary
man, who may fairly be considered the most
remarkable maker Of false money known to
history, must devote the greater part of his
time year after year to his chosen pastime.
1t can be nothing more to him, inasmuch as
wonder. ul thing about his limitations of
United States notes is that they are executed
entirely with the pen, even to the vignettes
and most elaborate bogus lathe work. To
produce one must require a vast deal of
patience. Apparently he does about two a
year, for once in six months pretty regularly
a specimen makes its appearance, to the dis
gust of the Government detectives. It is
always either fifty or a twenty, and it is a
very curious fact that no two are sent to
the department here from the same
city. The supposition is that the
forger, as quickly as be has passed one of
his works of art, changes his residence to
another city. He gets rid of the note he has
just completed. which may remain in circu-
lation for some time before reaching bank,
and departs long ere the police agents have
a chance to arrive upon the scene. The most
plausible theory is that he is a monomaniac
of means, who gratifies a morbid vanity in
this way. His work bears scrutiny with the
naked eye, though not with the magnifying
glass.
One of the most dangerous counterfeits at
present extant is a bogus United States
Treasury note for 81 ,00O Not only are a
number OF the notes themselves supposed to
be in circulatiou-ive of them have been
passed on one hank-but the plates are in
existence somewhere, ready to strike off mill
ions in currency of large denomination.