The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1903-04-03
BANK : NOTE MAKING.
Extraordinary Precautions Taken
in the Process.
Interesting Description of the Varl-
GUS Parts of the Work of Turn
ing Out Our Good Ameri-
can Currency.

First in consideration in making a
bank-note is to prevent others from
making a counterfeit of it. Therefore,
all the notes of a certain denomina-
ton or value must be exact duplicates
of one another. If they were engraved
by hand this would not be the case.
Hand engraving is more easily counter
feitnd than the work done by the proc
ess actually used, according to the
New York Herald.
Every note," said an official in one
of the leading bank-note companies,
"is printed from a steel plate, in the
preparation of which many persons
take part. If you will look at a five-dol-
lar greenback you will see picture in
the center, a small portrait, called
vignette, on the left, and in each of
the upper corners a network of fine
lines with dark ground, one contain
ing the letter V and the other the fig
ure 5.
"To make vignette it is first neces-
sary to make large drawing on pa
per with great care, and daguerreo-
/ type is then given to the engraver,
who uses 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.
1t is then put in press and an exact
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the steel plate. This the engraver fin
ishes with his graver, a little tool with
a three-cornered point, which cuts
clean line without leaving a rough
edge.
''Now, 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 it 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
vignette are thus transferred to the
roller 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 engraved.
'The center picture is engraved and
transferred to roller, like the Wig
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 $4,000 price that puts it
beyond the reach of counterfeiters.
Its work is SO perfect that 1t 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.
'The plates from which the notes are
to be printed are of softened 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 its surface.
"The fine lettering around the Dor
ders of the note is transferred in the
same way, but the other lettering is
put on by hand. This process saves
great deal of time ard it secures abso-
Lutte uniformity in the four engravings
on the p1ats.
"The back parts of the note are print
ed first, and when the ink is dry the
green back is printed, to be followed
by the red stamps and numbers. 1t
is then signed and issued. For greater
security one part of the note is en-
graved 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
skilfully executed counterfeits have
been made and issued, some of them
so good as to deceive expert judges of
money" 4a
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