The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1898-01-04
DANGEROUS COUNTERFEHs
Eight Bogus One -Hundred-Dollar
Certificates Discovered.
ISSUE OF ALL SUCH TO STOP
Secretary Gage Also Calls in for
Examination S28.OO0.OOO i'm Notes
of That Character-Treasu Ex-
perts Fooled The Reserve TO Be
Investigated.

Five of the most dangerous notes in
the history of counterfeiting were
brought TO the secret service yesterday
and an examination of the days re-
ceipts of Treasury cash disclosed
sixth.
The Treasury Department was in
formed today OF the discovery of two
additional 800 silver certificates. One
i'm New York and the other in Phila-
delphia.
The notes are silver certificates of
the denomination of $100. The discOY-
cry was made on "Wednesday last, by
George Cremer, the asserting teller in
the Philadelphia sub-Treasury, TO
whom one of the bills was offered.
Within two days three more were pre-
sented at the same window. ii was
Mr.. Cremer who brought the notes to
the secret service. The discovery of
the counterfeit today in the Treasury
cash leads to the fear that other notes
of the kind have been received. A care
full inspection will be made of every
certificate of that denomination in the
Treasury reserve.
In view Of the dangerous character of
the counterfeit. Secretary Gage has de-
cided 10 stop issuing and to call in all
one-hundTed- dollar silver certificates,
of which there are about $50 100000 out
standing. These will be exchanged for
silver certificates of smaller denOmina-
tiOns and the plates destroyed. As soon
as new plates can be engraved new
series will be issued. Assistant Treas
urers of all the sub-Treasury cities will
be required to send 10 the Treasury in
Washington all OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES sill
Yer certificates in their possession and
10 request all banks, trust companies
and other moneyed institutions to do
the same.
Secretary Gage desired the statement
made that in his judgment IT was un-
safe for business men or others TO ac-
cept silver certificates of this denomi-
nation. and in case any We're now on
hand they should be sent To the bank
for transmission TO Washington.
When the notes were brought to
the Treasury cash room the officials
there were undecided as to their gem
uineness. IL was only when the notes
had been soaked in hot water and the
pieces forming the front and back
came apart that the officials were CON
yinced of the fraud. The chief engrav-
that the counterfeit was engraved on
steel and printed on two pieces OF
paper pasted together after colored
silk fibre had been distributed be-
tween them. The work. he said. was
that of a very careful and excellent
eugrayer, and while there was no ap-
preciable difference between the gem
uine note and the counterfeit To the
casual observer. under a glass many
slight differences wcr9 discovered.
Since 1898 the Treasury Department
has taken no account of serial numbers
of these certificates, and it is impos-
sible TO ascertain just how many OF
the serial number corresponding with
the counterfeit are outstanding. This
is the first bill or certificate of de-
nomination as high as Sl00 which has
been counterfeited since the Smith
Brockaway gang was broken up in 1898.
This gang counterfeited a legal-tender
fiye-hundred-d dollar bill and one-hun-
dred-doIlar greenbacks in 1853: also q
one-hundred dollar greenback and
hundred dollar gold certificate. So
far as known very few of these bogus
bills got into circulation. and none OF
them was as finely executed as the
counterfeits which have now caused
CONSERVATION among the Treasury Off
ciaiS