New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1911-09-13
HARDEST TO COUNTERFEIT.
From tho limo Of Paul Revere, the
First American eanknots Artist,
Ours Have Been More Difficult to
Initiate Than Those Of the Old World.

in 1871, up to the present America
engravers have excelled not only in tt
artistic quality of their designs, but
their provisions against counterfeitin
Marco Polo found banknotes in Oh
ma ages ago, printed on paper mac
from the bark of the mulberry ire
One Of the notes upon which the gret
Venetian traveller himself may hay
gazed is on exhibition at this day
the office Of an American company.
is one Of series issued by the Min
dynasty about 1899 A. D.-"currer
anywhere under heaven''-and seem
to have been printed from woode
blocks on sheet of paper nine b
thirteen inches, bigger surface tina
any man could cover with both hand
outstretched. It is good for ION
string Of cash." The provision agains
forgery Is simple to the point Of sever
ity: "Counterfeiters hereof will be ex
ecuted. Persons giving information o
counterfeiters will be rewarded will
taels $50 and In addition will receive
the property belonging to the crimi
nal"
Another great government has place,
much dependence upon death as a de
terent to imitators of its promises t.
pay. When Jacob Perkins Of New
buryport, Mass, invented the method
of transferring designs from hardened
steel plates to steel cylinders and re
transferring to fiat plates, thus en-
aiding the engraver to devote the time
necessary to accomplish his best work
in the original and reproduce it at will
the new process aroused international
interest. Mr.. Perkins and his asso'
ciates went to London in 1919 at the
instance of the British minister at
Washington to help the Bank Of Eng
land to issue notes not easily counter
feited. But the Conservative old bank
refused to adopt the new method, pre-
ferring, as one Of the Americans said.
to rely upon the hangman rather than
the engraver. Nevertheless the Eng
lish began In time to follow American
methods after the geometric lathe had
been invented BY Asa Spencer of New
London, Conn.,, and improved by Cyrus
Durand.
The governments Of continental Eu-
rope depend exclusively upon color
work to protect their paper currency.
and several Of the large banks of issue
have civil engineers in charge Of their
bureau Of engraving and printing.
though what connection there may be
between engineering and engraving is
a mystery. Many Italian banknotes
are easy to counterfeit The Bank Of
Spain has of late abandoned its own
plant because its notes were initiated
so successfully that counterfeits were
accepted by the bank without ques-
ton. A private concern now does the
work. The Bank Of Greece now uses
the American method, having had sad
with notes Of Austrian.
German and English fashioning.
A myth that probably will never die
tells us that the notes Of the Bank of
cannot be counterfeited. AS
a matter Of fact, they can be initiated
readily enough, for little attempt is
made to- protect the. notes beyond the
use Of a watermark paper. The wa
termark can be easily copied.
One practical safeguard of great ef-
fectiveness is the custom Of the Bank
Of England to cancel every note that is
returned to the bank and issue anoth-
er in its place. This and the practice
of keeping a record Of the numbers Of
all bank notes used I'm every business
Establishment keep alive a keen sense
Of responsibility which adds to secu-
rity. The custom Of circulating soiled
Of course. gives the coun-
terfeiter his best opportunity. Forgery
Is much more readily detected in a
crisp, stiff, new bill than in rumpled
and dirty one.
The American style Of banknote has
become the standard in the countries
Of Central and South America. The
experience of the Brazilian government
led the way in this after various dis
First the much vaunt-
ed Austrian system was tried, the
notes being engraved and printed in
under that system. They
proved complete failure. Counter
feiters flourished. The Brazilians tried
banknotes made in France, and these
were promptly and extensively initial
ed as soon as the counterfeiters could
get their plates and paper ready. Bra
I'll tried German and English establish
ments, but still without securing pro-
lection to the banknote circulation.
and at last turned to the United States
and found type Of bills practically
to counterfeit. So it is no
boast, but a mere record Of fact, to
state that Americans make the best
banknotes in the world.-Detroit News.