Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1899-12-07
SOME NEW DOLLARS
FRESH DESIGNS ADOPTED FOR UNCLE
SANS PAPER MONEY.

FRESH DESIGNS ADOPTED FOR UNCLE
SANS PAPER MONEY.
The Treasury Dissatisfied With tins
cart Notes. Now In Circulation
How the New Patterns Are BEING
Turned Out.
The people Of this country will be
spending several new kinds of money
soon. Already a few specimens OF
it have been printed in Washington
hut the Treasury will not be prepared
to issue il for a while yet. because
takes "a good many millions of note.
and certificates to I'LL the demand, ant
after they have gone through tht
presses they have to dry for weeks
very slowly, so that the ink on then
may not blur in handling. Besides, only
the one-dollar and two-dollar silver
certificates are finished; the first de
sign for the five-doilar certificates hai
been rejected by the Secretary OF tht
Treasury, and the other denominations
are to come.
The reason for preparing these new
designs for the paper currency is sim
ply that those which adorn the billi
now In circulation are not considered
satisfactory. AS one Treasury ofileia
said the other day: THE pattern Of
the present one-dollar note wouldn'
make a decent newspaper cut.
couple Of years ago the Government
Bureau of Engraving decided tha'
what the country really wanted was
artistic money, and it hired some well
known artists to execute designs FOL
the various denominations of certih
Gates and notes. 1t was beautifu
idea, but somehow ii has not proved 3
success. These high-art bills now II
circulation, with their allegorical pic
lures and ornamental shields, wreathi
and things, have excited nothing bu
derision on the part of the public ane
most particularly disgust in banks ano
counting rooms, where their obscure
numbers have made them difficult Il
reckon.
"A money note is piece of WORK
purely technical" said the Treasury
official above quoted, land the purpose
of its design Is as far as possible away
from an idea which an artist has IN
mind when he sits down to make 8
pretty picture. One hangs picture or
the wall, or it may be suitable for 6
portfolio: the design Of bill requires
first Of all the Quality of enduring
wear with least possible injury. 1t has
10 pass through the greasy hands OF the
butcher, and across the sloppy counter
of the beer-seller: it Is crumbled in the
pocket of the car conductor, and there
is no sort of abuse that ii Is not liable
to undergo. Accordingly, every ele
ment in the makeup of the pattern
ought to have special reference to dur
ableness The principal lettering shoulc
be bold and black, so as not to be easily
obliterated, and a good strong partrar
is not only hard to obscure, but is the
best safeguard against counterfeiting.
About 80 per cert. of the surface OF
the now bills on both sides viii be left
blank-firstly, in order to show the
fibres of the paper better, and. second
ly, designs more wildly and cAarly
One trouble with the art mag Is
that their designs confuse ths eye
making ii more easily actually for 5
counterfeit TO pass. The paper money
about to be issued, on the other hand
is almost severely plain. An eagle witt
outspread wings is the principal orna
ment Of the face Of the one-dollar silver
certificate, a portrait of Lincoln being
engraved underneath 1t. The figure ]
and the Treasury seal are in brigh'
blue. and both seal and denominations
number will he of this color on all OF
the new certificates. so that the lattel
may be distinguishable at glance
from United States notes and banl
notes. The two-dollar certificate has S
head of Washington.
The Treasury people say that the
value Of the portrait as safeguard
against counterfeiting lies in the fac
that we are all of us more familiar
with human faces than any other OLD
jects in the world. We are accustomed
to recognize our friends, and very soor
we will become so well acquainted
with face on pew bill as to notice
the smallest alters ton in its expires
sion. A steel engraved portrait canno
be perfectly initiated, and the differ
ence of a line will produce n change
in the expression which any one viii
perceive at glance. The "art notes
have portraits on their. backs, but these
being printed in green are comparative
ly obscure, and the face of bill, any
way, is the side usually examined.
Experts admit that a note can be
made handsomer by engraving 1T al
over, but they say that few scat
tered fragments OF design, very elabor
ate, are most difficult to counterfei'
successfully. The new bills have com
paratively simple patterns on then
backs, but the geometrical lathe worl
used is at the same time very com
plicated i'm it's traceries, so as almos'
to defy imitation. All denominations
figures are made large and plain, espe
cially at the corners of the face, so a.
to render counting easy. In some OF
the 'art notes" these all-important fig
ures are actually obscured in an at
tempt to make them decorative.
The fibre paper will be retained IN
the new bills, Notwithstanding objec
lions made to IL br some experts, wht
urge that 1t is practically worthless a.
a protection against counterfeiting. L
was used long ago for a considerable
time by the Government, but was dis
continued because the people wht
owned the patent for it demanded ar
exorbitant royalty for the privilege OF
employing il. In the issue of United
States notes of 1869 the ingeniou,
scheme was originated of placing 9