Evening star., 1937-04-04

BAD MONEY LAWFULLY HELD
Collection Returned Treasury After Death of Man Who Re-
ceived Permit Keep Notes. Under Act of Congress in
1891, Arm Bankers Against Counterfeits.

| by the notorious counterfeiters, Smith,
Boyd, White and Ulrich.
Photo o-mechanical processes OF diff
ferent kinds are nowadays used and
while some counterfeits produced are
poor, still others are excellent repro
ductions, and very dangerous. AS the
first plates are done by photography,
there appear no misspelled words or
wrong spacing in different parts of the
counterfeits. The defects most easily
found are in colors Of numbers and
seal, poorly photographed small let
tering, photographs or nat scroll work.
On notes of large denomination genu-
inc paper is sometimes used. This is
obtained by bleaching, from a note Of
small denomination, by chemical pro-
cess, all print, leaving the paper clear
and white, and upon this genuine
paper the larger denomination counter
felt is printed. A good imitation Of
genuine paper is produced by printing
the front plate on one piece Of thin
paper, back plate on another piece
of thin paper, distributing silk threads
between both before pasting them to-
gether to make almost the correct
thickness.
"RY THE old Photographic process,
the seal and numbers and the
whole Of the back of a note were copied
and appeared in black on the photo
graph. These were then tinted with
pens and brushes by hand in attempted
imitation of the colors of the genuine.
On counterfeits thus produced the
black can be seen under the tint. Tho
numbering Is also blurred with color
and the tinting on the back of the
note Is badly done and often incom-
plete. The only plate used in this
process is the ordinary glass negative.
and the printing is done by sunlight
on the 'sensitized paper. OF course
the same number will be shown on all
copies from the same negative, but
as = negative of any note can be made
in q few minutes the detection Of
Photographic counterfeits depends
upon q critical observation of their
character and appearance. The black
part Of all notes printed from negative
plates by sunlight on ordinary silvered
paper may be removed by solution
Of cyanide OF potassium.
by another Photographic process
the seal and numbers and all the color
work, whether pink, carmine, chocolate
or green, are first entirely removed
from the note, then negative is
taken and from that photographs are
printed. To produce the color work
an engraved cut or plate Is used and
the tints are clearly surface printed
in their places. The numbers are also
printed in colors from separate en-
graved figures used in combination and
changeable, so that these figures are
we'll done and run in series
In spite Of such clever methods rs
these the counterfeits produced are
readily detectable when one has been
trained to look for certain indications
of the spurious character Of the notes.
1t was this training that Bushnell
attempted to give bank tellers by means
of his licensed collection and his
magazine.
Most Of the counterfeit bills are in
denominations Of $40, as this is the
type Of bill it is easiest to pass with
profit and without creating undue
suspicion Five-dollar bills are rela-
lively easy to pass. but the profit to
the counterfeiter is so small. once he
has paid of his extensive corps OF
confederates, that this type of crim-
inal specializes in the highest denom-
nation he can pass without exciting
scrutiny.
There are some counterfeiters who
operate on a wholesale scale-that is,
they do not attempt to dispose of the
money themselves, but sell their out
put to small gangsters or criminals
who think they can get away with it.
They usually charge 10 per cent Of
the amount represented by the coun-
terfeit money. That Is to say, $4,000
worth Of counterfeit would sell for
$500.
IN HIS National Counterfeit Detec.
tor" Bushnell presented what he
called q portrait chart" of new cur
rency with the warning Beware OF
raised notes" This was because in
many cases counterfeiters would alter
the figures leaving portraits intact in
order to preserve the genuine appear
ance of the note, retaining the orig
inal Government paper.
He admonished bank tellers: "EX-
anime both sides, also corners, before
accepting new currency. Be sure
proper portraits appear on these notes
and that neither portraits nor figures
have been tampered with" The chart
which he drew up Is Of benefit to the
general public for it Is astonishing
how few people, unless they are in
daily contact with large sums OF
money, will notice the portrait on a
corresponding denomination Of bill.
Every piece OF United States cur
rency bears certain portrait with a
certain denomination. For example.
the one-dollar bill, Washington; two
dollar bill, Jefferson; five-dollar bill.
Lincoln; ten-dollar bill, Hamilton;
twenty dollar bill, Jackson, and fifty
dollar bill, Grant. If you are fortu-
nate enough to handle notes of higher
denomination than the foregoing, the
one -hundred-dol bill has portrait
of Franklin, the f1ve-hundred-dollar
bill q portrait of Mckinley, the thou
sand-dollar bill a portrait of Cleve-
land, the Thousand dollar bill .
portrait Of Madison. Very few peoph
CONTINUED on Sixth Page.)