The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1898-01-04
1T IS LIKE
THE GENUINE.
DangerOu Counterfeit in
Circulation.
IS SKILFULLY ENGRAVED.
IS SKILFULLY ENGRAVED.
Secretary Gage Decides 10 Call in
and Destroy the Series.
HUNDRED DOLLAR CERTIFICATES

Washington, Jan. 4.--one Of the most
dangerous counterfeits ever discovered
has made It's appearance. John Cramer
of the sub-treasury at Philadelphia
brought to the secret service five one
hundred dollar counterfeit silver certifl-
Gates having the head of President
Monroe. Their general appearance was
excellent and. after close examination,
the officials of the treasury cash room
were undecided as to their genuineness,
and only after the notes had been soaked
i'm hot water. when the two pieces form
ing the front and back OF the note came
apart. were they convinced OF the fraud
on examination of the days treasury
cash another of the spurious notes was
discovered. The notes brought over by
Mr.. Cramer had been turned into the
sub-treasury by two leading banks and
the Philadelphia custom house which
had received them as genuine.
Agents OF the secret service everywhere
have been wired a description of the
notes with Instructions 10 be on the
lookout for persons attempting 10 pass
them. Inquiries have also been sent 10
all the leading cities as to whether any OF
the notes have appeared other than in
Philadelphia and Washington. and the
best men in the service will be put on the
case Following is a description OF the
note as furnished by the secret service:
The note is OF the series Of 1891. check
letter ID, face plate /; Tillman, register;
Morgan. treasurer; portrait of James
Monroe. All numbers 80 far seen begin
with 3i5. The most marked differences
between this note and the genuine, how
ever are found in the seal and the num-
bering. the former being a shade lighter
than i'm the genuine. and the latter slight
ly different I'm formation. Especially is
this true OF the and T. In the figure 3
the lower loop does not extend up as far
toward the center OF the figure as in the
genuine. aIi+4 In the figure the space
between the base and the center cross
line is narrower than in the genuine.
one OF the principal points of difference,
however. is that the new counterfeit is
ONE sixteenth of an inch shorter than the
genuine.
The chief engraver at the bureau of
engraving pronounced the counterfeit
very dangerous production. ii was en-
graved on steel and printed on two pieces
Of paper pasted together after colored
silk fibre had been distributed between
them. The work, he said, was that OF
a very careful and excellent engraXer
and, while there was no appreciable diff
ference between the genuine note and the
counterfeit 10 the casual observer. under
"a glass many slight differences were dis
covered. These, however, were ex-
vaaDplN diffCIllf Of 1afoctfop
In view of the dangerous character OF
the counterfeit, Secretary Gage decided
To stop issuing and To call in all s100silver
certificates, of which there are about
S2G.000,000 outstanding. These will be
exchanged for silver certificates Of
smaller denominations and the plates
destroyed. AS soon as new plates can
be engraved, a new series will be issued
The treasurers at all of the sub treasury
cities will be required to send TO the
treasury in Washington all 800 silver
certificates in their possession and TO re-
quest all banks. trust companies and
other monied institutions TO do the same
Secretary Gage desired the statement
made that in his Judgment il was unsafe
for business men or others to accept sill
yer ceSiicates of this denomination;
and in case any were now on hand they
should be sent TO the banks for trans
mission to Washington.