The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1911-04-23
HOW THE COUNTERFEITER
LABORS FOR LITTLE PAY

or more periodicals are lying on q desk.
There are two monthly counterfeit de-
tecting magazines published in New
York City itself II the note in his hand
Is ten issued by the Auburn City Ma
tional Bank of Auburn, n. Y, he looks
up New York, then Auburn. Perhaps he
finds this:
IN. Y, Auburn, Auburn City National,
Check Letter A. July 20, 1866, Charter
No. 12s5. in vignette, lower left corner,
Franklin's kite string Is broken, or hid
den by clouds. In genuine, Is wholly
visible. Seal and numbers poor. Lathe
work on back poor"
And that Is what he wants to know.
II he cannot find a description Of the
thinks it Is not genuine, he takes the
second step In the working of the sys-
tenn. and sends the suspected bill to the
magazine, which for the privilege Of
looking at it pays him its face value in
good money If II turns out to be bad.
The magazine people cooperate in
turn with the Secret Service II the bill
turned over to the government and
description Of 1t is straightway sent out
on postal card by the magazine-sent
out to all banks and financial houses
with which II is in touch. And the next
teller or cashier who gets the mate Of
terfeit Is.
Banks Best Detectors.
Perhaps It seems only natural. but the
great bulk of counterfeit discoveries Is
made through the banks, which COM
municate Immediately with one Of the
counterfeit-detecting magazine or d.
rectly with the Secret Service. There Is
a new national law now, passed only
last winter, which requires that any
one possessing a United States counter
felt of any sort, or having knowledge OF
its possession, must notify the Treasury
Department at once, under penalty of
Imprisonment and a heavy fine. The re-
suit is that the Federal authorities get
in touch with every newly discovered
counterfeit now within a day or two
Of its detection-with the result again
that they are able Immediately to start
on the track of the men who manufac-
tured the money.
How does the cashier know whether or
not money is good, and how can you
know? A hard question. but best an
swered first with two big don'ts. And
they are: Don't Judge coin by its ring
and don't Judge a bill by the paper. The
ring of a coin will often show its genu-
ineness, but the thing gets bit confus-
ing when we learn that many good coins
do not ring true. generally because Of
some little imperfection, and that many
bad coins do ring true.
As for notes and bills, once in while
you can tell by the paper. but down in
the Secret Service office they have nice
collection of them which would fool al
most anybody every time. Great heavy
s. bills as thick as pasteboard-perfectly
good, but soaked with oil or something
l. 49,
Other bills all limp and thinned out
acid work on them. but not in the least
impairing their worth. And then there
are some notes which fold and crinkle
and show threads in the best approved
style-counterfeits.
The best ways Of passing on a coins
genuineness are these-its weight in COM
parison with one which you know to be
good its thickness, the feel of it-difer-
emit surface textures-and the accuracy
of its workmanship. The last Is the
easiest test for the average mortal.
With paper money the best test is its
appearance under a microscope All
genuine bills are machine engraved
This means that all shadings, curves,
backgrounds, and patterns are formed OF
minute lines which are absolutely I'M
varying and absolutely unbroken from
end to end. Intersecting lines always
cut each other at precisely the same
angle where they are supposed to-
Parallel lines are actually and mathe-
matically parallel. The sweep Of curv-
ing lines is perfect
All this is done in the government Of
fees by special machines so expensive
and so protected that counterfeiters
could not possibly afford them, as they
run anywhere from $4,000 to $4,000 in
value. Makers of counterfeit paper,
therefore, have to do this work by hand,
and although it is often done by the
most expert workmen in a way which
would defy ordinary observance, the
microscope will reveal the truth Hand
made lines can give the general effect
of those made by machines-but here
and there they wabble perhaps in the
tiniest possible way, and none or the
lines are of the same fractional breadth
from one end to the other. Nor are the
curves scientifically exact.
So IL is that the bank or the secret
Service experts can always detect And
80 il is, too, that in the long run the
always gets his just de-
serts. with a whole country watching
for what he does and silent, tireless
government logging always at his heels