Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1911-10-12
BEST BANKNOTES.
They Are Produced by American
Talent and Methods.
HARDEST TO COUNTERFEIT.
From tho limo Of Paul Revere, tho
First American Banknote Artist,
Ours Have Been More Difficult to
Initiate Than Those Of the Old World.

To say that Americans make the best
banknotes In the world may sound at
first rather boastful, and yet any his
tory of the art and industry Of note
engraving which failed to record that
fact would be incomplete. Paul Re-
we're was the first American banknote
artist, and from the time Of the char
tering of the Bank Of North America
under the direction of Robert Morris.
in 1881, up to the present American
engravers have excelled not only In the
artistic quality Of their designs, but In
their provisions against counterfeiting.
Marco Polo found banknotes In Chi
ma ages ago, printed on paper made
from the bnrk Of the mulberry tree.
One of the notes upon which the great
Venetian traveller himself may have
eazed is on exhibition at this day In
the Office Of an American company. 1t
Is one of n series issued by the Ming
dynasty about 1890 A. D.-"curTent
anywhere under heaven"-and seems
to have been printed from wooden
blocks on sheet Of paper nine by
thirteen inches, bigger surface than
any man could cover with both hands
outstretchcd II Is good for zone
string Of cash" The provision against
forgery Is simple to the point Of sever
ity: "Counterfeiters hereof will be ex-
ecuted Persons giving information OF
counterfeiters will be rewarded with
taels $50 and in addition will receive
the property belonging to the crimi-
nal"
Another great government has placed
much dependence upon death as n de-
terrent to imitators OF Its promises to
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-
abling the cngraver 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 1910 Mt 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
fish began In time to follow American
methods after tho 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 It's own
plant because Its notes were initiated
so successfully that countcrfeits were
accepted by tho bank without ques-
ton. A private concern now does the
work The Bank of Greece now uses
the American method, having had sad
experiences with notes OF Austrian,
German and English fashioning.
A myth that probably will never die
tells us that the notes of tho Bank OF
England cannot be counterfcitcd. Az
matter OF fact, they cnn he initiated
readily enough. for little attempt IL
made to protect the notes beyond the
use OF n watcrmark paper The wa
termark can he easily copied.
One practical safeguard OF great Of
fectivcness Is the custom OF the Bank
OF England to cancel every note that Is
returned to the bank and issue anoth-
or In its place This and the practice
of keeping record of the numbers OF
NIL bank notes used In every business
establishment keep alive n keen sense
q OF responsibility which adds to secu-
rity. The custom OF circulating soled
banknotes. of course, gives the coun-
terfeiter his best opportunity Forgery
is much moro readily detected In a
crisp, stiff, new bill than In rumplcd
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
appointments. First the much vaunt
ed Austrian system was tried. the
notes being engraved and printed In
England under that system They
proved n complete failure Counter
feiters flourtshed. The Brazilians tried
banknotes made In France, and thes,
were promptly and extensively imitat
ed MS soon as the counterfeiters coult
get their plates and paper ready BRA
zil tried German and English establish
ments. but still without securing pro
lection to the banknote circulation
and at last turned to the United State
and found n type of bills PRACTICAL,
impossible to counterfeit. So 1t Is n
boast. but mere record of fact, I
e,Nata chat Americans oola tho hns