The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-10-08
UNCLE SANS PAPER MONEY
THE VIEW NATIONAL BANk NOTES
ARE SEVERELY PLAIN.

The people OF this country will be spending
several new kinds Of money within a couple OF
months from the present time.
Already a few specimens Of 1t have been
printed in Washington. but the Treasury will
not be prepared to issue II for while yet. be-
cause It takes a good many millions OF notes
and certificates to all the demand. and. after
they have gone through the presses. they have
to dry for weeks very slowly. 80 that the ink on
them may not blur In handling.
Besides. only the 81 and 81 silver certificates
are finished; the first design for the So has
been rejected by the Secretary OF the Treasury
and the other denominations are to come
The reason for preparing these new designs
for the paper currency is simply that those
which adorn the bills now in circulation are
not considered satisfactory.
couple Of years ago the Government Bu-
reau OF Engraving decided that what the coun-
try really wanted was artistic money. and 1t
hired some well. known artists to execute de-
signs for the various denominations OF certin-
Gates and notes. 1t was beautiful idea, but
somehow it has not proved a success.
,A money mon not note is piece OF work purely
quoted. and the purpose OF its design Is as
artist has in mind when he sits down to make
The design on bill requires. first Of all. the
quality OF enduring wear, with least possible
INJURY. IL has to pass through the greasy
hands of tho butcher and across the sloppy
counter Of the beer seller; it is crumpled In
the n%sEs of the ear AID there is
Accordingly every element in the make
up Of the pattern ought TO have special refer
should he bold and black not to be easily
obiileruted. and good strong portray is no,
against cOunterfeiting
IA, About 80 per cent 2i the surface of the new
- n hat far
and secondly. because this arrangement brings
out the engraved designs more clearly.
designs confuse the eve. making it more easy
actually for a counterfeit to pass.
The paper money about to be issued. on the
other hand. is almost severely plain An eagle
with outspread wings Is the principal orna-
Eortrait OF Lincoln being engraved beneath it.
The figure l and tn" Treasury seal are in
bright blue. and both seal and denominational
number will he of this color on all Of the new
certificates. SO that the latter may be distn.
guishah!e at GLANCE from United states notes
and bank notes. The 81 certtficats has head
The Treasury p"orl" say that the value of
feitne lies in the fact that we are ali Of us more
objects in the world We are accustomed to
come SO well acquainted with face AZ to no
tc.e the smallest alteration in it's expression,
inflated and the difference e 81 line viii pr6
duce a change in the expression which any one
will perceive at glance ~ ,.
backs. but these. being printed in green. are
comnaratiyeiy obscure. and the face, of n bill
any way. Ia the side usually examined.
somer by engraving it ali over. but they say
elaborate are most iifficuIt to counterfeit.
The new bills have comparatively simple
Patchwork used is at the same time very com
pltcated in its traceries so as almost to defy
All denominational figures are made large
and plain, espec ally at the corners Of the face
30 as to renter ,b counting easy In some OF the
actually obscured In an attempt to make them
decorative.
bills. Notwithstanding objections made TO it by
some experts. who urge that it is practically
worthless as protection against counterfeit
ing. 1t was used long ago for considerable
time by the Government. but was discontinued
because the people, who owned the patent for it
hemapded an GSorhitant royalty for the privi-
II the iss Sia"e Of T. United States notes Of
1850 1850, the Ingenious scheme vas orisi:
on n'e the side s Of the rrf Eres
oph"r go and on the right 6a ;ds
Poe Msc2Tt9ey Who had dsyel9ped a a. fad Tor i'
way, obviously. he could get the real Treasury
Indeed the nractcab leness OF this process con
stituteS one objection to the fibre paper. and it
is n serious one tqasmuch as false notes pro-
rior simitude though tie help Of the hire Tre
However. the, nbr6s. can. be initiated quito
perfectly by making few irregular scratches
on a steel plate and printing from III" latter
with colored inks upon the otherwise complete
II used TO be supposed that the brown ink
with which the backs, OF the national bank
but . notion was r"dey ds uG mot long on
nearly new 81 hank note with the back perfect
Sf,f oh al WFit Ia nat. for.
ThS patent on fibre PAPER ran out in 1895,
it is made at n factory IN Dalton, Mass. where
it ia turned out under the eyes Of the Govern
machine az it is rroducei. and the utmost i'm
aginabe care is taken that not a scrap OF the
rnner shall get away: it is, considered rs rle-
"ious as IL it was sN much money Defective
sheets nre destroyed. and every perfect one
sent to to- WashinGton is accounted for by, mum,
from a New York importing frm. cut into
1uarter-inch lengths. and fed into the paper
The production Of a new set OF notes and
certificates, running through all the denom-
nations. is not so difficult as one might
At the Bureau OF Engraving, where the paper
money Is printed. the chief artist and his as
Sistant designers nss their odd moments OF
leisure in making drawings of parts OF bills
bits Of border, vigne It, &C. These are ,, re,
proofs representing them are pasted into
large scraphook.
III design Tor n more IL wanted IN a hurry.
the head man looks over the scrapboOk to
see what he has in stock. He draws on n sheet
Of paper a parallalogram precisely the size and
shane Of the hill that is TO be. and inside Of
this he pastes p section or two OF border an
ornamental bit for each corner n portrait-he
has plenty Of portraits OF historical personages
ready cngrayedIsome large pumbsrss whore
posing the STORY" OF the note.
The, story Of a piece, of paper money is the
bank note tells what institution issued It and
mentions the fact that II is a legal tender: a
silver certificate declares that two dollars paya-
lie to bearer have been deposited in the
Treasury.
Words to mako up such money stories are
kent in stock always. ready engraved like
other. pieces of designs. Thus the chief artist
Is able within few minutes. II necessary. to
make complete pattern Of a brand new bill.
no portion of which has ever been used before
The hack Of il is chiefly geometric lathework
and plenty OF stuff of that sort is on hand,
When the chief artist is satisfied with his de-
sign ne hands II over to the chief OF the Bureau
81 Engraving and Printing who sends it to the
Secretary OF the Treasury, The latter Is the
only authority qualified to decide whether or
not it shall beaccepted and used. However.
not being necessarily an expert IN such mat
tiers himself. he Ia likely to ask the advice Of
the Treasurer and OF other office.
The first question considered is whether the