Counterfeiting
koun'ter-fit-ing, making imitations of money, either paper or coin. All countries punish the counterfeiter. For imitating paper money, the United States imposes a fine, not exceeding $5,000, and imprisonment for not to exceed fifteen years. For imitating coin, the fine is the same, with imprisonment not to exceed ten years. For making small coins such as cents and nickels, the penalty is not to exceed $1,000 fine and five years' imprisonment. Similar penalties are prescribed by statute for having counterfeit money or counterfeiting tools in one's possession.
The government takes great pains to make the counterfeiting of paper money difficult. The paper used is a fine, firm kind of linen, made by a special process during which red and blue silk threads are mixed with the pulp in a way that is difficult to imitate. When bought from outside parties the government places the manufacturer under heavy bonds not to sell to private persons. The counterfeiter is obliged to imitate the threads of silk by colored marks made with a pen. Then, too, the engraving of the note is done by expensive machinery which a counterfeiter cannot afford to own. An examination of a note will show that a single line winds round and round, wandering, one might say, all over the face of the note, forming scrolls and designs without a single break or irregularity or difference in breadth. Even the most skillful engraver cannot reproduce this scroll work perfectly by hand. Very few persons not in the employ of the government have the skill to do it all. Government detectives keep track of the movements and occupations of all persons who are supposed to have extraordinary skill in such work. The United States detective service gives a pathetic account of a New Jersey engraver, a most skillful man, whose utmost industry enabled him to produce only one $20 greenback per week. Instead of earning an honest living, which his skill would have enabled him to do easily, he seemed to have a passion for going to New York City to pass off his weekly bill. He was caught finally and sent to prison, a fate which is almost certain to overtake the counterfeiter. In 1905 the United States secret service men made 532 arrests for counterfeiting. As to nationality, 392 were Americans; 42, Italians; and 15 were Austrians. Of these, 94 were taken in Pennsylvania and 77 in New York.
A favorite method of the counterfeiter is to raise the value of a bill from $2 to $20, but this is an exceedingly clumsy device and is detected easily. The government follows the policy of changing the designs of its notes quite frequently. Older bills are withdrawn from circulation. The work of counterfeiting bills is so difficult and requires so much skill that an engraver can make more money in the honest prosecution of his art.
It is easier to counterfeit coins. If the money could be cast it would be very easy indeed; but in order that a cast may be clear and sharp the metal must expand slightly in cooling, which is not the case with the precious metals. The counterfeiter must necessarily construct a sort of die with which to stamp his counterfeit money. The slightest irregularity or change in the stamp can be detected by a skillful banker. In the case of gold coins, the gold itself is worth as much as the coin, so that there is no profit in counterfeiting unless some cheaper material is used. A cheap material may be detected by its color, ring, and weight. For these reasons counterfeit gold coins are scarce. Silver coins, nickels, and cents are worth more than the material they contain. They are less difficult to counterfeit. Alloys of lead are used in place of silver; but the profit of counterfeiting in pure coin metal is quite sufficient to tempt the skillful rogue. Government detectives follow up all suspicious purchases of silver to make certain that the buyer intends to use it for honest purposes. When genuine silver is used, the only clue to the counterfeit is in the patterns stamped on the faces of the coin. False silver coins sometimes counterfeit the genuine very closely. Having the same weight, ring, and color they are difficult to detect except by the most experienced eye.