The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1907-04-19
MILLIONS IN
COUNTERFEITS
ORIENT IS FLOODED WITH Sso..
100000 IN SPURIOUS COIN.
limitations Almost Perfect And Bank
ers Are Panie-strieken.

!. most stupendoas counterfeiting oper
2 ations In the history of the world ar
coming to light In the Orient. TIT
, amount of money involved Is almos
beyond reckoning and the methods
of forgery so far-reaching, clever anc
dangerous that all the fnanciers o.
the far East are alarmed.
The gigantic scheme, so successful
~ carried out that no man knows its
extent, is practically laid at the door
of the Japanese. Point by point the
ffact that the little brown man flooded
all Manchuria and stuffed the Russo
Chinese Bank with spurious money
during the war with Russia is being
established by experts.
Sixteen million pounds. or $4,000.
900, of the worthless stuff is said to
have been detected. Nobody can
guess how much more is extant APP
peal has been made to the Japanese
Government to enact and enforce
stringent laws to exterminate the
shrewd counterfeiters in Nippon, who
elude the watchful official of that en-
pire.
Experts on Way to China.
Experts from the Bank of England
and the American Bank Note Com
pany are on the way to China to assist |
In ferreting out the tremendous
amounts of bogus money known to be
mixed up with the genuine.
The Russo-Chinese Bank Of Man.
churia the Hong Kong and Shanghai
Barking Corporation of London ane
Shanghai, the imperial Bank CT China,
and the Indo-Chinese Bank of Shang-
hal. have appealed to the Bank OF
England and the American Bank Note
Company for the assistance of their
skilled experts in unraveling the most
gigantic system of counterfeiting and l
iorgerles ever carried out They have
made the astounding discovery that I
hey cannot distinguish the difference {
between their own genuine notes and
he worthless notes foisted upon them q
n vast quantities. b
These banks, especially the Russo t
,hinese, find that they have been t
sorse than plundered, not to the ordi- Il
AIRY extent of few thousand dollars, u
ut to tens of millions. They cannot c.
ositively recognize their own cur c.
ency.
These counterfeits were first dis 8
overed during the Russo-Japanese
ar. They were spread broadcast in
[anchuria, yet very few were detect.
!, owing, to their fine quality. After ia
lie war the banking officials relaxed pt
eir vigilance, and the counterfeiting pt
as forgotten, but not discontinued. w
Bankers Puzzled Over Note. w
Last Summer, In the Russo-C Chinese ed
INK, doubt arose as to a certain note. in
was for $40 Mexican money and FRI
lmbered 1884. 1t was a perfect re- NJ;
OF the genuine original as wa
uld be conceived. The banks ex. I-
rts pored for weeks over It and a
cd note, and could not find even the
ghtest discrepancy. Yet the bank
lcials had strong cause to believe It
orgery.
Down in Shanghai practically the
ne thing occurred. Suspicion had
IN directed toward bank note for
local currency. 1t was No. 1857.
der the microscope no diviatioa
m the original plate was discov-
d. Nevertheless these officials had
D good reason to regard the note
a counterfeit until proved other
q. 10.
imilar doubts had come up In the BY i
'erial Bank of China and the Indo- have
e ~, hgur
nese Ddhh. PERSISTENT enortS, Poop
ever. revealed no visible peculiari- y, - y
II a note-certainly none sufficient. Of y
lagrant to be observed In the reg sister
transactioa Of business Do'
Notes Pronounced Counterfeit. =
tterly in the dark the bankers
ed to this side of the water for
l. To determine whether the sus- Trou
ed notes were real or spurious, II
raj of them and a number of I'M 8. H
tionably good ones were sent to
American Bank Note Company of r.
York and also to the Bank of DCiI
and.
ter three months close study of
notes discrepancies we're noted In BON
hose under suspicion and they lALS
pronounced counterfeits. The
epancies were limited. however, no.
e minutest differences of texture
e paper and other virtually indis-
BILE faults. British findings were