The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-05-20
GOOD EYE FOR
 BAD MONEY
TREASURY SUBMITS ALL DOUBTFUL
 BILLS TO MRS. LEONARD.
Considered the Most Expert Detector of Commercials in Country--Her Judgment Proved Infaiiibie When Others Had Been De-
 ceiVed.
Washington Post.

Washington Post.
 You can't tell a counterfeit bill by the feel" said Mrs. Villa A. Leonard expert money counter and the authori- ty on commercials in the redemption department.
 'Eyery counterfeit has some imper- lection, however slight 1t may be. This is an acknowledged fact. No matter how skillful the engraver or the counterfeit, no matter what process mas been used in order to defraud the gov ernment, there Is always in the coun- terfeit some departure from the genu- inc note, which, as soon as 1t comes to our hands, strikes as a blunder, but which passes without question the eyes of some of the most experienced busi- ness men of the country.
 We have heard much of the detec- tion-by-touch theory, but there IS lit- tie truth in 1t. Of course. bad money has to come into the office which was detected as counterfeit as soon as we touched it. but the feel of the note is by no means decisive. for many of the commercials we have received nave been made of genuine paper, made at the bureau of engraving and printing, which has been obtained by bleaching notes of small denomination.
 
 "The only thing to be relied upon is the eye The coloring of tho note, its size, and the work of the engraver are the points which usually give away the counterfeit. The ink may he a fairly good imitation of that used on the genuine note. but the note may be found to be a thirty-second of an inch shorter or longer. wider or narrower, than 1t should be. Or 1t may be per- feet almost in both of these two re- spects and the fault lie in the engrav- ing. No one has ever seen perfectly engraved counterfeit note. There nave however, been some very sktllful en- gravers, among the counterfeiters, who, if they had followed their trade legitimately. would have made for- tunes.
 'The $500 note, series of 1869, was probably the best This note was made of genuine paper. which must have been obtained through bleaching note of smaller denomination. and was made by one of the best engravers In the world. This note had only two small defects-the figure of a goddess or namenting its face had badly drawn foot. and in a vignette of a man the genuine note showed perfectly round buttons on his coat, but in the coun- terfeit the buttons had slight corners on them.
 'The S1, 900 note, series of 1863, which was the first issue of greenbacks, was also a notable counterfeit, in fact, one was accepted at the treasury. The notes of that issue were usually passed in Texas between cattle dealers. It took a long time for them to reach our office, for they had first to go to the sub-treasury at Chicago.
 The only bad point of this note was in the spacing of the letters in Ameri- ca. The genuine note had space be- tween two of the letters and the coun- terfeit had no space. It would not be so easy to pass such a note today, however, as we use the fiber paper.
 You have probably heard" contin- ued Mrs. Leonard, "of the $100 and $50 commercials in pen and ink. These were made by German in New Jer- sey and the pen work of them was marvellous. The fellow worked secret ly in a room which was closed to ev- eryone, even his wife and family. He became reckless with his money, was suspected and caught by the secret service men. This happened in 1S9S."
 'Is it true that genuine plates have ever been stolen from the bureau of engraving and printing, and counter feits made therefrom?
 No, all stories to that effect are myths. Those plates have always been guarded the same as an emperor's jcw- els. It is not possible to make away with a genuine plate"
 Controversy of Experts.
 Have wrong decisions ever been made upon a doubtful note?"
 Well, only one case has come to my immediate notice. In 1894 $10 note was brought to me to be stamped good I pronounced 1t to be a coun- terfeit, but the sender not agreeing with my opinion, the note was taken through the redemption division, the cash room. and the secret service di- vision, where, with few exceptions. it was declared genuine by the experts. It was then sent to the bureau of en- craving and printing and returned from there with a typewritten certifi- cate of it's genuineness. These decis- did not influence me, however, and I maintained my position so firmly that my chief took it once more on & round of inspection and finally found in the