The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-12-29
OUR NEW BANK BILLS.
COunterfeiting Now Made More Diff
cult, anu Cashiers Corresponding
Nv PIease6

cult, anu Cashiers corresponding
ly Pleased.
Claud NJ. johnson, Director of the United
States Bureau of Engraving and Print
Ing, in the New York Herald.
c5rhe new designs ordered by the Secre-
| tary of the Treasury will be used for all
the greenback issues of the government,
namely, 81, 50, S. $40. $50, $50, $780, $500 and
$1,000. A dollar oliver certificate will be
recognized for dollar United States note
not only by the text of the bill, but by the
color of the seal and the number which
are printed by the surface process.
For instance. the seal and the number on
the United States note will be red, the
seal and number on the silver certificate
blue, and the seal and the number on the
| treasury note some other positive color
easily distinguishable from either blue or
re5.
This will enable the accounting officers
of the government as well as the banks,
to recognize the character of the note, al
though the general design wiz be the same
for all three; and when all or most of the
paper money now in circulatio is retired
| and placed, under this plan there will be
but nine designs, whereas now we have
| twenty-seven.
believe that the people will become SO
much more familiar with these nine de-
signs than they are with the twenty-seven
now in circulation. that the difficulty of
passing a counterfeit will be increased
very materially
The design will be more in accordance
with the conventional American bank
notes than were the silver certificates re-
Gently issued but it will be the effort of
this bureau to. make them as handsome
and artistic as possible under the cir
cumstances.
1t is the desire of the treasury officials
and the bankers of the country 10 have an
eXpanse of exposed paper, a plainly en-
graved text and large counter number.
In those ail-important but circumscrib-
ed circles of commercial life where money
is the chief commodity dealt in, and where
! those who handle it do so behind locked
steel doors and impregnable cage work
barriers, the above statement regarding
the new design for bank bills will be es-
pecially welcome. In exact proportion to
the amount of qualification the news Will
afford the legitimate dealers in money will
be the unhappiness il will create among
those who tempt fate by counterfeiting
| Uncle Sans currency. These are the OBJ
jects at which the treasury department
officials have been aiming, and they have
succeeded well-for every one who has
seen the designs for the new bills declares
that for simplicity and uniformity they
are superior to anything hitherto turned
out by the bureau of engraving
Beginning with the small and humble
one dollar note which will be the denom-
nation most familiar to the majority Of
the people, this viii be in appearance one
of the most patriotic of bills. In the fore
ground will perch the American eagle, a
bird whose widespread wings are a well
come sight to every patriotic American cit
izen at any time, and will be especially so
when seen on the new one dollar bill. In
the background is the dome of the capitol,
and over all floats the stars and stripes.
The design is an exceedingly pretty, as
well as a patriotic one.
The design for the two dollar bill has not
yet been quite completed, but this much is
known, that the most conspicuous part of
II will be a portrait of George Washington
in the lower center. Supporting the por-
trait OF the father of his country win be
two partially draped figures In reclining
attitude. This design is not unlike that
of the two dollar silver certificate now In
use.
The Idea Of the treasury officials having
been to reduce the twenty-seVen designs
at present In circulation, consisting OF
greenbacks Sherman notes and silver GER
tiicates TO as few designs as possible
the simple expedient has been resorted
TO of making all bills Of one particular
denomination alike, and making the DIFF
ference between the one and two-dollar
bills as marked as possible and the diff
ference between the five and ten-dollar
bills and the other denominations 80 plain
that the design alone VIII enable any one
handling money 20 recQgnze the various
denominations without further scrutiny.
But for the benefit Of bank clerks and
others, who have 10 handle large sums OF
money 10 bills another distinctive differ
ence will be- made, which VIII be so help
ful 90 them as 10 make the counting Of a
few million dollars even more Of a pleas