Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1901-08-30
BANK NOTE WORK.
How Money is Made to Foil the Couu-
terfeiters' Craft.

terfeiters' Craft.
The first consideration in making
bank note is to prevent others from
making a counterfeit of it. Therefore
all the notes of a certain denomina-
tion or value must be exact dupli-
Gates of each other. If they were
engraved by hand this wouM not be
the case. Hand engraving is more
easily oounterfeited than the work
done by the processes actually used.
Every note" said an official of
one of the leading bank note compa-
nies, sis printed from steei plate,
in the preparation of which many
persons take part. If you will look
at a So greenback you will see a pic
ture in the centre; small portrait
called a vignette on the left, and in
each of the upper corners a net work
of fine lines with dark ground, one
containing the letter V and the other
the figure 5. These four parts are
made on separate plates.
'To make a vignette it is first nee
essary to make a large drawing on
paper with great care, and dauguer-
reotype Is then given to the engraver,
who uses a steel point to make on it
all the outlines of the picture. The
plate is linked and a print is taken
from it. While the ink is still damp
the print is laid face down on steel
plate, which has been softened by
heating it red hot and letting it cool
slowly. II is then put in press and
an exact copy Of the outline is thus
made on the steel plate. This the
engraver finishes with his graver, a
tool with three cornered point, which
cuts a clean line without leaving a
rough edge.
Nov, this plate is used for making
other plates-it is never used to print
from. 1t must be made very hard,
and this is done by heating 1t and cool
ing it quickly. A little roller of soft
ened steel is then rolled over it by a
powerful machine until it's surface has
been forced into all the lines cut into
the plate The outlines of the Wig
nette are thus transferred to the roll
er in raised lines, and after the roller
is hardened it is used to roll over
plates of softened steel, and thus
make in them sunken lines exactly
like those in the plate originally en-
graved.
''The centre picture is engraved and
nette, but the network in the upper
corners, and also on the back of the
note, is made by the lathe. This ma
chine costs $5000-a price that puts
1t beyond the reach of counterfeiterS.
It's work is so perfect that it cannot
be initiated by hand. The lathe en-
graves the network on softened steel,
and the figure in the middle of it is
then engraved by hand. 1t is now
hardened and transferred to roller
like the others.
1.-THE plates from which the notes
are to be printed are of softeneI steel
and large enough to print four notes
at once. Four engravings of the note
must therefore be made on it. and
this is done by rolling the hardened
steel rollers containing the raised pic
lures over it in their appropriate
places until the pictures are pressed
into it's surface. The fine lettering
around the border of thu note is
transferred in the same way, but the
other lettering is put on by hand.
This process saves a great deal of
time and it secures absolute unifor-
nifty in the four engravings on the
plate.
"The back parts of the note are
printed first, and when the ink is
dry the greenback is printed, to be
followed by the red stamps and num-
bers. 1t is then signed AMI issued.
For greater security one part of the
note is engraved and printed at one
place and another part at another
place, when it is sent to Washington
to be finished and signed.
But, needless to say, after all this
care and all these safeguards. many
sllilfully executed counterfeits have
been made and issued, some of them
so good as to deceive expert judges
of money"