New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1909-09-25
NATIONS PAPER CURRENCY
Famous Concern Transforms
Blank Sheets into Millions.

hp a
Is. Il anything. little worse than that
The better counterfeit note seems the worse
y really is. and that is the reason underlying
one mass Of precautions and safeguards thrown
ABOUT the manufacture Of banknotes bonds
STOCKS and other formal evidences OF indebted
ness ''N
fhe American Bank Note Company Of New
York founded In 1895 as the successor to PAM
heVere'S money factory. Is one OF the typical in
austr1es or the age. With a capitalization Of
sloooOOOO. It's factory in Trinity Place and It's
new Office building at Broad and Beaver street.
me company has everything necessary in the
way Of equipment
There IS an air Of mystery about the r.roduc-
ton OF money or bonds OF stocks. j. seems
marvellous that a sheet Of white paper can be
run through press and divided into sections
mat can be converted into gold or clothing or
pleasure. The character OF the paper Is NOT
changed Icy the addition Of a little ink from
the press. bat when it has emerged it may be
worth thousands OF dollars where it was valued
at only few cents before Tie magic impression
was made.
Material worth $50 can be converted into
bonds worth millions in a press run Of a few
minutes. and the man aggregation Of men
does not live VINO can duplicate the results OF
course. here and there a counterfeit certificate
will pass. but q Is extremely rare thing and
the receiver generally has himself to thank If he
finds Il on his hands. There have been cases
OF successful counIerfeiting. notably that Of the
Monroe 500 bill at least 1t is SO alleged bur
these are few and far between.
Paul Revere the FIRST producer OF Amerl-
can paper money. having received the contract
for printing the FIRST batch Of American currency
He worked with old hand press. and was
so successful In turning out the bills that he
highly complimented and received similar orders
from Congress- and in due course the industry
widened and developed. until twenty years after
Revere made his famous ride the American
Bank Note Company was formed
While the national currency Of the United
States is made by the government and Is
most important Job. the underlying Commercial
value Of q few big bond issues equals the entire
output of currency of the nation If the gov
eminent issues are subject 10 the perncious In
5ustry Of cOUnterfeiters. it is conceivable that
there might be an element Of distrust injected
into the mind OF the public. If the bonds OF
big railroad could DE successfully duplicated and
sold there would be a commercial cataciysm
Fortunately the science OF protecting govern
nlent issues and private bonds has progressed
TO such point that 1t Is next to Impossible
successfully 20 counterfeit either
For obvious reasons the American Bank Note
Company would not allow the details Of bond or
bank note production 70 become public property
That Il is delicate. painstatSing. exact and tre-
yDepdousIy labOrious glance at an engraved
bond will show. III one really wished 10 gain an
lea OF the work represented On the face Of
bond or bang note. let him use a powerful mag
pifydng glass and the graceful lines and scrolls
Vyu rise uD and meet his eye. The fine grada-
tons Of shading come out In all their beauty AMI
The hidden Significance OF some optical effect
produced on the naked eye becomes apparent.
Like a military organization Is the American
Bank Note Company. II is intrusted with Sc
crets even more important 60 the world at largo
than those told 20 priest and lawyer. The COM
many frequently receives orders from great
poratiOBs for bonds running into the millions
The officers and wOrknen Of the company know
az some big commercial developments weeks be-
fore WaH Street has more than an inkiing Of the
coming occurrence.
The securities ore planned. plates made. stock
prepared and the completed issue through
the DRESSES without sound from the company.
Silence Is the foundation principle IL the news
az the issue should leak It might defeat the pur-
rose for which Il was intended This fact Is
EouteIy testified 70 by heaps OF Intellectual bonds
that were never issued because some one learned
az the intention OF the promoters 90 do so and
faresfaIIed them Ia some way. These leaks. how
eyer DO not come from the printers q general
r4,ta for the cardinal clause ia the decalogue OF
the American Bank Note Company is Thou
Shalt not Gossip"
One of the recent johs done by the company
was the printing OF issue Of baIknotes for
the Chinese government. This issue il the first
made in China since the fifteenth century dur
fDe Che Ming dynasty. More recently stili. the
oonoDany printed 20OO0OO0 tickets for q Cuban
company and within short tine ran Of s1o.-