Red River prospector. (Red River, Taos County, N.M.) 1900-190?, 1906-07-12
MARKING OF MONEY.
METHOD OF MERCHANTS TO
CHECK DISHONESTY.
Pin Is Used Instead Of a Pen as Com
monty supposed-Devices Of
Police Experts in De
tecting.

How is money marked?' repeated
a headquarters detective to a Wash
ington Star reporters query. Well
it is not marked in the manner that
the public thinks it is.
THE average person no doubt be-
lieves that money is marked by pri-
vate marks placed on the bills with
pen and ink; perhaps some employers
thus mark the bills they place in
the cash drawer which is being
robbed by a dishonest clerk. or
course marked money of this kind
is good evidence in court on the trial
Of a man upon which it has been
found. But a check mark in ink, I'M
less very expertly put on, might, with
the aid Of a good lawyer for the ac-
cused, be shown to have been per-
haps accidental. and thus would the
e~ver-sought. reasonable doubt of the
%accused's participation in the robbery
be raised.
There are several different wavs Of
marking money by police exports to
the end that they may establish its
positive identity of having previous
ly been in their hands before the thief
extracted it. The way | personally
employ. and which is perhaus the SAT-
est to secure certainty and convic-
ton. is the '%pin-prick method
Let us take the familiar silver
certificate of the %fve-dollar denomina-
ton for an illustration. one that has
been somewhat worn is better than
a new note from the treasury. In the
center is the well-known vignette of
the head of an Indian chief in full
regalia of feathers and trappings.
presenting a full-face view. We now
take this pin and make two punctures
right through the bill and directly
through the pupils of the eye-so, !
hand you the bill, and, even though
you saw me make the punctures, they
are not visible at a casual and even
critical glance. l now raise it to the
light, and you can see the two tiny
holes made by the pin point as dis
tinctly as windows in a building. l
then apply the pin point very neatly
at the twist in the neck of the large
figure 5 at the two upper extreme
ends of the note. You will observe
that these two diminutive twists do
not appear in the necks Of the two
figures of 5 which are in both ends
at the bottom of the note. l then
pierce the note at the extreme ends
of the scrolls on either side of the
word five which may be seen in
the direct center of the note at its
lower edge.
"The marking of the note is now
complete. 1t is exhibited to one or
two persons in the secret for the pur-
poses of preliminary examination and
Identification, and then placed in the
money drawer. perhaps with several
others of the same denomination, all
exactly marked alike with the great
est care. The thief may be on the
lookout for marked bills, usually ink
marks, but he is a slick one who
will get on to the invisible but sure
ly present pin pricks. You see. this
class of thieving does not admit Of
a crucial examination of the money
before taking; it is usually done very
quickly by palming the bills. placing
them in some preliminary place of
safety, to be later removed. Then we
count IN detection with the bills on
the person before the thief has a
chance to exchange or to spend them.
And the pin pricks remain? In
deed they do. The money is after
ward carefully placed in envelopes
and is not promiscuously handled.
When they are exhibited in court and
their preliminary preparation ex-
planned under oath conviction is prac-
tically certain"