The Montgomery advertiser. [volume] (Montgomery, Ala.) 1885-1982, 1909-11-21
use OF COUNTERFEITS
WAYS IN WHICH HAD CURRENCY
CAN Nh DETECTED.
SIR Threads Best Test Of Paper Money
--Itipg of silver Cola Not
Very Sure 4
Guide.

SAsA Anfruo1 Dcat Irst 81 PAPER Money
. Very Sure
Guide.
In talking to a New York Tribune re-
porter on the subject or counterfeit
money. Chief Drummond. former head
Of the Secret Service. said watch
anyone when he Il, trying 20 deter
mine the genufneness OF q banknoto
It doesn't make any difference wheth-
Ter he ts experienced In banding large
sums OF money or not. The first thing
Il he will do Is to feel II carefully. Now
that 10 the most useless test In the
world; you can never detect bad money
In that way. There have been. and
i perhaps 'stif1 are, some cheap ItaIiRn
/ counterfeiters who use a poor paper
that feels like canton flannel. but that
does not determine the zpuriousness Of
the bill because any paper money that
has seen long and active use will have
exactly the same rough and fiimsy
/ feel.
Then there are other people who
always hold a doubtful note up to the
Hight. Ask them why. ana they WILL
say with the utmost assurance; Why
Ito see IL there are pinhoies In IT, That
VIII show that 1t has been accepted at
| a bank and again passed into circu-
Iiation. That's good enough proof for
| me that the note is 1enuines
Childish Is the only word that will
describe this latter test There are a
number OF ways by which spurious
note can easily be detected: but before
| these are described It will be necessary
Ito go back for a moment into bank
note history. Previous to 1891 ali pa
per used In printing paper money hRd
ItwQs paraglel q lk threads. one red and
4 one blu ruht<zf nnEthwize through
1.-THE parefs but "a SHELTERS soon de-
yised Z niethoa h initiate thtss
They secured an onion. or Japan
esei payer 0neSfAHlf the thickness OF
that used BIZ thaza 0xernment They
would smear one sheet with mixture
of cream and milk, then lay two silk
threads across 1t ana upon this super
impose a second sheet. This sandwich.
ed paper was then ironed and the two
practically became de one sheet. leav-
Il ing no trace sof having been pasted to-
gether. II the counterfsiter wished to
make the note look as II It had been
long in circulation all he needed to do
was TO steep the paper In coffee before
the operation and put the finished note
through q process of artificial hand
ling Counterfeit money thus treated
would fool anyone but the rare ex-
pert.
with merely these threads In the
note the Government had little secur-
lily. In this same year, 1891. commit
tee OF which I was member was APP
pointed TO investigate the Bureau of
Engraving and Printing. At one Of the
sessions. while listening to the remarks
of Mr.. Crane, the paper manufacturer,
now Senator from Massachusetts,. J.
happened to have In my hand q pencil
with blue lead In one end and red In
the other. Absent-mindedly made lit
tie cris-cross marks on pad
THAT gave me hint. / passed the
marked paper to Mr.. Crane and asked.
Would Il be possible for you to weave
paper with short pieces OF blue and
red silk woven into the paper In some
such fashion,? Crane said that he
thought 1t could be done. The result
Is the paper that is used.
Greatest Safeguard.
This has never been successfully coun-
terfeited and is the greatest safeguard
against the acceptance Of spurious
money. Another little aside. Previous
to this both sides of the bank notes
had been carefully covered with en-
cravings recommended that as much
open space be left on the bill as pos-
sible, and at the same time leave no
doubt about the convenient determine
ton of the denomination. My idea In
this was to leave plain white surfaces
In which the little red and blue shreds
of silk would appear.
casual glance the silk threads seem to
be a part of the printing. Look at
them carefully and II the note is genu-
inc you will Invariably ind that a num-
Der OF threads have loose, ends which
project beyond the surface. Some OF
the threads may even have loose end
on one side and loose end on the
other. A loose end OF a silk thread Is
conclusive proof that the bill is genu.
Inc.
was the first note issued on the new
paper and with the large open spaces.
II took the place of the Hancock Two
In ali bills used previous to the Win
dom Twos' the two parallel silk threads
must still be looked for, but there are
very few of these old notes still IN cir
culation.
"The process of counterfeiting bills
has also changed. The last steel en-
craving note that know OF was made
nv the notorious Biddelf In 1895. 1t
was a 500 silver certificate with a De-
catur head. Three thousand OF these
notes were issued. Theyswere hand en-
graved on steel and were the best coun-
terfeits 1 ever saw. Nowadays coun-
terfeiting is done by the various photo
meehanical processes. The great STUN
bling blocks Of the photo-mechanical
counterfeiter are tho SEAL denomina-
tion number and series number which
appear in blue on the face of the note.
seal a stumbling block. ~
most counterfeiters know enough to
reproduce separately the denomination
number and the series number with
rubber stamp, so that to the ordinary
person these are little protection. What
he must look TO is the seal. also done
in blue ink in the genuine note. and. of
course, also in the counterfeit. The
usual counterfeiter is Obliged to re-
produce this seal by brush work This
makes a very coarse-lined and clumsy
substitute for the Governments work
and should be easily detected.