The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900, 1895-12-08
SPLITTING BANK NOTES

Many devices Eae been resorted to by
counterfeiters to raise genuine bank
notes, as well as manufacture bogus
ones, but one OF the most novel has come
to light within the last few days at the
United States sub-treasurer's Office in
this city. 1t is not known whether the
plan was ever tried before, or how sue
cessful it was in this case as it is not
known whether nybody was caught by
it. The scheme consisted of splitting
So and 81 note and then pasting the
back OF the 81 to the front Of the So note,
and the front of 81 note to the back
of So note. The mechanical part OF the
work was excellently done, but the fraud
could DO detected the moment the note
was turned over.
An effort had been made to change the
cone to Five" on the "Cne" side of
the new combined note. but it was done
so cIumsily that the fraud would have
been seen at glance, and the only hope
of passing the notes as tives would have
been to pass them over with the IS side
upasd trust to the man receiving it not to
turn it over before putting it away. Tho
doctored notes came to the subtreasury
quest that they be- allowed whatever the
notes we're worth. The government al
ways redcems notes from the face value,
and as the faces in this case were of 81
and a 50 note, S6 was allowed. 1t is not
known whether the bank was caught ON
the split notes or not.
A Glcyeriy executed counterfeit So ma
tional bank note was also detected at the
subtreasury the other day. 1t was OH the
First National bank of Tamaqua, and
was burned in several places to give it
an old appearance and then pasted on
riece of paper as If to hold il together.
The fraud was first detected by turning
over one of the corners and discovering
a misspelled word on the back.
Another trick resorted TO frequently is
to attempt to raise notes by FASTING on
an additional cipher taken from reve-
nue. stamp. Experts, can, however, de-
teot such scheme at a glance by the
picture on the note, the same picture
never appearing on notes of different de-
nominations.
A counterfeit in which it is hard to
see where the profit comes in is the pen
and ink imitation, all the lines and
standings being made by hand. With the
skill and time required for such work
theirs can be little if any profit IN the
work.
Probably the most perfect counterfeit
silver dollar ever turned out was detected
a few DAYS ago. The coin was thu same
size as the genuine dollar. and the die
was perfect down to the minutest detail.
The counterfeit was only detected by its
weight. and the maker evidently over
looked the fact that he might make
| dollar of full weight and yet make 4
handsome profit, owing to the difference
in value between the coin and the bull
ion in it. That the bulk of the metal
used in this case was silver was shown
by the true ring of the coin.
The most surprising thing about coun-
tsrfeiters is that they make so many bo-
gus coins of small denomination. A
great many of these are pennies, which
contain apparently the full quantity of
copper, and it is hard to See where any
large profit can be made. The makers of
these are mostly foreigners, who are con-
tent to operate for small profits. In the
case of dimes and quarters, many arc
made with the full quantity of metal, but
the designs are so imperfect that they
can readily be detected Philadelphia
Record.