The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1906-06-10
MARKING OF MONEY
1t Is Done With n Ping, Not With
Pen, rs Supposed.

How is money marked?" repeated a
headquart ers' detective to a Star repor-
ter's query. 'Well, It Is not marked In
the manner that the public thinks 1t is.
Tho average person no doubt believes
that money Is marked by private marks
placed on the bills with pen and Ink; per
haps some employers thus mark tho bills
they place In the cash drawer which is
being robbed by a dishonest clerk. OF
course, marked money OF this kind Is
good evidence in court on the trail of n
man upon which 1t has been found. But
a check mark In ink unless very UNpertly
put on. might, with the aid of a good
lawyer for the accused be shown to nave
been perhaps accidental, and thus would
the eYeT-sought. reasonable doubt OF the
accused's participation In tho ROBBERY be
raised.
There arc several different ways OF
marking money by police experts to the
end that they may establish its positive
Identity OF having previously been In
their hands before the thief extracted II.
The way / personally employ. and which
is perhaps the safest 10 secure certainty
and conviction, IS the pin-prick method
Let us take the familiar silver certlfi-
cate of the s. denomination for an Illus
traton; one that has been somewhat worn
is better than new note from the treas
ury. In the center Is the wcll-known
vlgnctte OF the head OF an Indian chief
in full rcgalia OF feathers and trappIn6s,
presenting n full face view. We now
take this. pin and make two ,punctures
right through the bill and directly through
the pupils OF the cyes-so. / hand you tho
BILL and. even though you saw me make
the punctures, they arc not visible at
casual and even critical glance. l now
raise II to the light and YOU can see the
two tiny holes made by the pin point as
distinctly as windows In a building L
then apply the pin point very neatly at
tho twist in the neck OF the largo ngure
at the two upper extreme ends OF the
note You Will observe that these d.
minutiye twists do not appear In the
nccks OF the two figures OF which are
In both ends at the bottom of the note.
l then pierce tho note at the extreme
ends OF the scrolls on either side OF the
word 'lve.' which may be seen In the
dirct center OF the note ut Its lower edge
THE marking OF the note is now COM
plcte II is exhibited to ono or two per-
sons in the secret for the purposes OF pre-
l!minary examination and Identification,
and then placed In the money drawer
denomination, all exactly marked aliko
With the greatest care. The thief may
be on the lookout for marked bills, usu-
ally ink marks, but he is a slick one
who Will get onto the invisible but surely
present pin pricks. You see, this class OF
thieying does not admit OF crucial ex,
animation of the money before taking: II
is usually done very quickly by palming
the bills, placing them In some prelim-
mary place OF safety. TO be later re-
moved. Then we count on detection with
tho bills on the person before the thief
has q chance 10 exchange or to spend
them
And the pin prlcks remain7 Indeed
they do. The money Is a1terward care
fully placed in envelopes and is not pro-
miscuously handled. When they are ex-
hibited in court and their preliminary
ton is practically certain, n,"-Washington