Show NO CHAr GE FOR p. p Vy i y COUNTERFEITER TO TONi Ni BEAT SAM rt r f. f Some Little Detail Overlooked Inevitably Leads to detection de le- le 1 of 01 Crimi Criminal I. I EACH CH ISSUE IS DISTINCTIVE N No Individual Engraver Completes for Series of Notes Notes- c f Plato Plate Any Interesting Cases Which Prove Impossibility of Success In Counterfeiting New York York The The government Is an organization It has organized forms and means for making currency currency- These forms f and means are fashioned on the the scientific plan that there are no exact duplicates possible in nature or in the the e manufacturing of a product No two battleships are ex exactly alike any more f than are two roses that grow in the same garden J As an example in the making of our our money let me say that an engraver engraver In the government service can make make one plate and only one plate front which a given series of bills are print 1 rind ed says the chief of the secret service In the New York Telegraph Th That t engraver engraver en en- graver may nearly duplicate it it but never will be able to reproduce it ex exactly or even approach the original original nal work by reproduction to s such ch cha a degree that there will not be a difference difference dif dif- w ference that is detectable So with F the dies for stamping the government copper silver and gold coins 5 Then too it is not so remar remarkable remarkable able that duplicates are impossible when f one considers that there are thousands thou thou-i sands i in some instances tens of thou thou- Bands sands of delicate strokes by a very fine tool necessary in the making of a a. single plate for the manufacture of at a t series of notes Perhaps a scratch is ls too heavy or mayba maybe too li lightly made e Such an error would be fatal Con J on r sider too that only one plate is used by bythe the government in Iq printing a given series of notes and only one die is y- y used in making a given issue of coins o ns Plate Work of Many It may be interesting for the reader to lo keep in mind that no individual l engraver en en- E graver gravel completes a plate for any series se series se se- r ries ies of notes One man engraves the M. M vignette another does the script work a third man the square letterIng letter letter- k lug Ing and yet another takes care of the mechanical lathe work etc In the light of common reason there theres Is s only one conclusion possible possible gov gov government e money cannot be imitated successfully for any sustained period unless the secret service agents cease their tireless vigilance And yet int in ii t the face of all all' these organized obstacles cles Iles individuals and small grou groups s of k- k men have risked their freedom and nd no doubt will continue to do so In an effort erron to cheat Uncle Sam by foisting spurious coins and notes on the public There is the case of the German ar artist List who noticed a ah an l oil painting a representation rep reps res of a ten-dollar ten bill pain pained pain ed In the panel on the wall of a restaurant res where lie he had b been en accustomed accustomed tomed to dine He tried at first Just to imitate the painting His imitation imitation tion Lion was in iri pen pen and Ink and so well done that lie he felt a 1 cur curiosity to know know whether he could deceive any person person with the product He tie tried and succeeded succeeded suc suc- In the deceit Then foi for 14 years he ne devoted himself himself him- him rp self Belf mostly to sketching 9 oh on l bond paper paper pa pa- per ot of the proper size a a number of bills including ten twenty fifty and even even hundred-dollar hundred notes in imitation imitation tion Lion of the United States currency It zt w would uld require re his continuous eff efforts foi tot two weeks Ve ks at a time to to toCo Co complete pl te a hu dred And yet again he would take vacations for six r. r months month at a time front from his counterfeitIng counterfeit counterfeit- Ing ins labors In the meantime devoting himself to legitimate art Goes Once Too Often His method ot of g or or disposIng w Ing tag of the notes was to get rid of them in ln liquor stores near the New Jersey ferries on the New York side Ho Would choose a rush-hour rush crowd in which to approach the bar Dar order a a. r. r quart of whisky and ana a drink which he would would swallow at the bar while engagIng Ing lug the bartender in m conversation He would at the same time lay down his counterfeit Dill bill get it exchanged d hur hurriedly and ana to New New Jersey t where he had bUilt and family a house For the most part the bartender did not notice the counterfeit note not even even when counting up and it w went nt L i to a bank or finally to the before it was detected All trace of f. f the distributor distributor ol of the bill was of ot course lost by Dy this time Ume I However the pitcher went to the well once too often One evening about five o'clock our German artist went into a liquor store on Courtlandt street not fat far from the terries He bought a quart ot of whisky as usual P. P and a separate drink and laid a twenty-dollar twenty bill bIn on the bar It so happened that the bar oar was moist with s i whisky spilled from an overturned y glass When the bartender picked up i f the bill fro from the t moistened bar bard ther the r Ink on the note dampened by the al at- alcohol alV V 1 cohol g ers s and ane and he gavi gave i the alarm Had the artist use used what what is termed ink he would not nave have to been detected in to that instance i j t I The fh most most da dangerous g rous c coin hi counterfeiter counterfeiter counter counter- feiter feiter with which the government has had to deal dea was an Italian Jeweler In New York city He made a ten-dollar ten gold piece of fineness in the body i of the article The government I standard is fine Yet the imitation imitation tion was very accurate and In order to have the weight he made the coin a whit larger than the government government gov gov- government measure required Then too he made a rim commonly called the reeding reeding- for th the coin This rim was of the exact fineness ot of o the he government government govern govern- J ment meet ten-dollar ten gold pieces The Jewelers Jeweler's object in making the rim which he soldered on to the body of th the coin was of course to throw secret the trail the tho service men off i when they made an assay of the rim of the counterfeit coin cola and found the gold thereon to to be of the standard fineness The Jewelers Jeweler's coin had a rounded rim and not one that rose at right angles from the surface of the body of the coin as in the genuine He sent his liis little daughter out to pass the coins in in indIfferent different shops Inthe inthe In ta the the East side of New York When she was apprehended ded the news' news filtered ed around to the Jeweler In time for tor him to destroy evidence which had we obtained would have resulted In his conviction A federal Jury d decided that we had failed to present sufficient sumo dent clent evidence upon which to convict him of making the counterfeit mon money y and the Jeweler was discharged The rounded reeding or ri rim n was the most most pronounced defect In 1 his liis is work The jeweler laughed a hearty Italian ta laugh gh gh's s- s sh h he left eft the courtroom courtroom His kinsmen kinsmen kins kins- men and friends were there in goodly numbers and Joined in the laugh That was all In the days day's work Still the future events that brought the Jeweler and me into contact again in the same courtroom serve as an answer to the repeated often-repeated question Can you dist distinguish ng tish certain coins or br notes as the particular lar work of individuals Turns to Silver Sliver Silver Caught About a year after the acquittal of the Jeweler the secret service men were were supplied with information that a great quantity of counterfeit half dol lar pieces were In circulation in and around New York city Long island and and Jersey city A peculiar feature of the c case sl was that the coins were such an accurate duplicate of the gover government gov gov- government er ment art article cie that officials officials officials of of- could not detect the defect in them they were of the same fin ness weight and size as the government coin in a number of other ways ways' they answered dt the 1 r q the government government gov gov- standard Yet the Inevitable detail was there thereto to prove the imitation When the secret secret secret se se- se- se cret service men examined lh the coins It was found that the rims were rounded round round- ed exactly exactly- in the same fashion as as th the ten-dollar ten gold piece of the Italian Jeweler We called on the latter in time lime to find him busily engaged in the manufacture of of coins When we entered entered en on- the rear of his Jewelry store we found a number of the spurious fifty- fifty cent pieces and the material and tools for the making of If many many thousands of them Then there was the well known Phil Phil- adelphia Lancaster adelphia-Lancaster Lancaster case case in which the scheme was to print print and unload unload It sim simultaneously through through exchange exchange ex ex- change at t the different throughout the country There were imp Imperfect cheekbones on President Monroe on the notes of of this particular enterprise The de deficiency gave gave an ah entirely different expression to the th the fa face of of the counterfeit as compared compared compared com com- pared with the genuine bill A Another ther detail and one that the principals of this enterprise overlooked overlooked over over- looked was to o properly manage manage the engravers employed by them The Themen Themen Themen men backing the scheme were not sufficiently suf suf- lavish with tl their funds Consequently Consequently Con Con- sequent y two of th engravers engravers took 10 Ob iri in Ii the counterfeit notes notes' and went to to the races with the money to tomake tomake tomake make a killing They laid the spurious spurious spurious rious notes notes' at at the tho track This was prior to the date set for the grand grandc c coup coup up The notes otes notes at t the track tx ck however however how how- ever to set the secret servi service e at at work in Iri time tim to frustrate the conspiracy Big Plot Nipped And Arid so many other cases there are areto areto areto to illustrate illustrate- illustrate the point poh t. t But the one which particularly part c i r y appeals to me me is that of John Davis who recently pleaded guilty in New Haven Conn to making plates for counterfeit five- five dollar notes Davis is an old offender and tl the e illustrative case which I have in mind was one in in which he was the central c figure years years bac back It was known as the Bank of England plot Davis had manufactured In London and had planned there to lay down counterfeit Bank of at England notes representing a value in excess of ot His scheme was to have hav his confederates in each of the great money centers London centers London Paris Berlin Berlin Berlin Ber Ber- lin lin Vienna 81 St. St Petersburg and New NewYork NewYork NewYork York simultaneously exchange the notes at foreign money exchange brokers brokers' brokers brokers' brokers brokers' bro bro- kers' kers offices The workmanship of of the product was almost perfect The notes were the closest close t imitation to the Bank of England notes that have ever been discovered Soon everything was in readiness for the grand unloading unloading except except one thing The conspirators had not tried out the money to learn how readily it might be accepted Accordingly two of the men assigned to the New York end of the plot went over to the State bank on Grand street and o counterfeit notes representing a v value lue of of or The conspirators erred in r presenting so much foreign money for exchange exchange-at t one time to a bank in that neighborhood The officials of the institution institution Institution In in- compared the offered notes with genuine genuine e notes note ote i ot of the Bank ot England could find no difference Still the of ofT ofT-cla v v. ere suspicious bade bado the conspirators S ait a few tew minutes and called up the i cret service office which hurried men to the bank Inevitable Detail Overlooked A close examination of ot the offered notes by the government agents showed showed the color Or of the printing to betrue bo be true the color ply py and size sie ot of the paper to measure measure I with the Bank Dank of England requirements and the strong main features features of the etching etching etch- etch ing ing r represented presented in the print w were were e true true to to a shading Yet as always the detail was there thereto to prove the counterfeit work The watermark watermark-of of the spurious notes was more pronounced than the genuine Further and to mo me more wonderful still a tiny guard carefully placed on the genuine note pote was lacking in the counterfeit It was wes a little thorn thorn- shaped protuberance extending from a certain letter Jetter In the word denominating ing the value of the note The rhe tiny little sentinel could be observed rv d only with th the aid of a fine magnifying glass It would be fo found nd only accidentally accidentally accidentally acci acci- dentally except by one knowing exactly exactly exactly ex ex- where to look for ft It The New York members of the conspiracy conspiracy con con- conspiracy were arrested out but released when they stood on the assertion that they had found the notes notes' in the street However that was not all aU for the conspirators Later Davis Davis Davis' Was was vas arrested arrest arrest- ed In London He JIe evi evl- evidence d dence received dence-received nce received a suspended s sentence and a reward and came to this this' co country coun country coun- coun n- n try to o try his hand His confession resulted In 15 15 of the conspirators going going going go go- ing to prison |