Passaic City record., 1893-01-14
BOGUS BANK BILLS.
EXTENT TO wnICH THEIR MAN
UFACTURE IS CARRIED ON.
Two Hundred Kinds OF Bad Money
In Circulation - Some Curious
Features of This Form of Crime
--CounterfeitinG Easy.

~ FURIOUS, altered and counter
~ felt notes are getting to be more
1 + numerous, and the counterfeit
detectors, says the New York
Sun, are again coming into use because
bad bills are getting TO be more plenti-
full. The latest issue of Underwood's g
Counterfeit Reporter describes 113 diff
ferent kinds of bad National currency
notes in circulation, and seventy-six diff
ferent kinds of counterfeits of Treasury
notes, besides eleven kinds of bad
money printed from the genuine plates
stolen, and feloniously put into circula-
ton. These are of all denominations,
from a one dollar National currency note
to Treasury notes and United States
bonds of the value OF $1,000 each. Max
ing modest estimate that only $4,000 OF
each kind of bad paper money known to
be in circulation has been issued, would
give the alarming sum total of 1,0O0,-
600 taken from the capital of honest
men. 1t is probable, however, that a
much larger sum is the real figure. 1t is
known that Jay Cooke So Co., the agents
of the Treasury Department, redeemed
many thousands of the most dangerous
counterfeits of the earliest $1,000 Treas
ury notes. The counterfeit was so per-
feet that many experts declared that they
were printed from the genuine plates at
the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.
There are some notable features OF the
current counterfeits that point out the
palpable reason why the increase has
got to be so alarming. Take for in
stance the counterfeits of the issues on
the National banks of the denomination
of five dollars. There are about forty
different kinds described on about as
many different banks.
The most striking fact in the counter
felt list is the evidence that the same
counterfeit plate is used, with but slight
alterations, to issue counterfeits OF differ
ent banks. The reason why this can SO
easily be done is because the genuine
notes of all the National banks in the
United States of the denomination of
FIVE dollars were IN most respects pre-
cisely alike. It, therefore, follows as a
matter of course that counterfeit of
one National bank Of the United States
of the denomination of five dollars was
counterfeit mainly of all other National
bank issues of that denomination. When,
therefore, counterfeit OF any one bank
note was discovered and described in the
counterfeit detector the counterfeiter had
only to make slight alterations to be able
to use the same plate to print counter
felt on another bank. So successful
was the counterfeit on the first issue of
National bank notes of the denomination
of five dollars that it became necessary
to rearrange the design and recall the
issue aud print a new series. Then the
new series was also counterfeited, and it
became necessary to issue another, and
this also has been successfully counter
feited.
Of course the plan Of issuing SO many
genuine notes so nearly alike to the ex-
tent of hundreds of millions of dollars
presented an irresistible temptation to
the counterfeiter who could afford to pay
fabulous prices for the engraving
OF counterfeit plates which could be SO
extensively used. Indeed, the counter
feiters did succeed in employing, at
enormous pay, one of the most expert
engravers in the world, who had been
largely employed in doing the genuine
work.
The general plan of printing the
| National bank notes is to have q plate
engraved for face and back to be used
| alike on all National bank notes. Then
the names of the banks, the coats Of
arms of the respective States, the sigma
| lures and numbers are put in separately.
| OF course, the counterfeiter does the
same thing. They do not even go to the
trouble OF numbering the counterfeits
correctly, which they could easily do by
reference to the published lists of the
! correct numbers. Neither do they al
ways put in the correct name of the
| United States Treasurer or Register.
These names are never written on the
genuine notes, but are printed from en-
| graved smiles of the signatures of
those officials. Few people can tell
who those officials were at any particular
! time, and nobody can tell, except by re-
ferring to the official list, what are the
| genuine numbers of any bank note.
| lnuo Cuc COuutcIlCito Vi tnC uIst SCElCs
of notes of the First National Bank OF
Chicago, of the denomination of five
dollars, are printed from a counterfeit
general plate, which has the name of S.
B. Colby as Register. The fact was that
s. B. Colby was n 1T the Register at the
time the genuine notes were printed
and all the genuine notes bear the name
of L. E. Chittenden as Register. The
same is true of the counterfeits of the
notes of the denomination Of five dol,
lars, on the Central National Bank ol
Chicago, the German National Bank O
Chicago, the First National Bank o
Northampton, Mass; the First Nationa
Bank of Peru, ILL.,; the First Nationa
Bank Of Lockport, N. Y, and others.
The counterfeit of the United States
Treasury notes Of 1869 of sos and 100
was so perfect that the Treasury wa
compelled to withdraw those issues from