ey
are, no counterfeiter can successfully imitate them. Fine vignettes
are seldom seen on counterfeit notes. If the lathe and ruling engine
work be genuine, an ordinary vignette cannot make a note counterfeit,
and if that be counterfeit, no vignette can make the note genuine.

The vignettes on genuine notes are executed by men at the head of
their vocation, and are very life-like and beautiful. Counterfeit
vignettes usually have a sunken and lifeless appearance. Genuine
vignettes, as seen upon government issues, consist of out-door scenes,
portraits, historical pictures, and allegorical figures. They are all
exceedingly beautiful, and it is not likely that such work will ever
be successfully imitated.

SOLID PRINT.

The lettering, or solid print, in genuine work is done by a
first-class artist, who makes that kind of work his exclusive concern.
The name of the engraving company is always engraved with great pains
and is very accurate. It will be seen on the upper and lower margin
of the note. This, in counterfeits, is not quite uniform or even.
The words "one dollar," as on the one dollar greenbacks, are to be
considered as a sample of solid print.

BANK-NOTE PAPER.

Bank-notes are printed upon paper composed of linen, the qualify of
which is not always the same, and it varies in thickness. Therefore,
the paper is not always a sure test, but it is important. The
manufacture of this paper is a profound secret, as carefully kept as
the combinations to the great vaults where the government's millions
lie awaiting further river and harbor bills. It is made only at
the Dalton mill, which dates back almost to colonial days. What its
combinations are nobody knows except those intimately connected with
its manufacture. The secret of the paper-making is jealously guarded,
as is also the paper itself. From the moment it is made until it gets
into the treasury vaults it is carefully guarded. It goes there in
small iron safes, the sheets carefully counted, and all precautions
against its loss being taken both by the government officials and by
the express companies which carry it.

COUNTERFEIT SIGNATURES.

Sometimes genuine notes are stolen before they are signed; then the
only thing about them made counterfeit is the signatures. Those who
are familiar with the signatures of the officers of the bank where
notes are purloined, may not be lead into error, as such signatures
usually appear more or less cramped or unste