DETECTING COUNTERFEIT MONEY.
The following pointers, found in an interview reported in Mail and Express, will enable any person to detect many of the false bills in circulation: “Talking of counterfeiters puts me in mind of one, a notorious rascal, who was caught not long ago in this city while at his nefarious trade,” said an ex-Treasury official. “The paper money this man produced was absolutely perfect in every detail but one thing, and it seems strange that a man of his knowledge and experience of the art of counterfeiting should not have known it.” Here the Treasury official took a one-dollar bill from his pocket. It was new and crisp, and he pointed out a diminutive letter C on the right under the bill’s number, and another down in the other corner. “Now,” he continued, “I don’t suppose there are ten men in a hundred outside the Treasury Department who know that these seemingly unnecessary letters are on United States bills. And even if they had noticed them, probably not one of them could tell what they signify.” Handing another bill to the reporter, the ex-Treasury man asked him to read the last four figures. They were 5,321. The Treasury man said, almost instantly, “The letter on that bill is B,” which was correct. Half a dozen other bills were produced, and when the Treasury man was told the last four figures of their numbers, he was able to tell, with lightning rapidity, what letter would be found on each bill. In each case the letter was either A, B, C, or D. “The explanation is simple,” said he. “If you take the last four figures of the number on any bill, no matter what its denomination, and divide them by four, you will have a remainder of naught, one, two, or three. If the remainder is zero, the letter on the bill will be A; if it is 1, the letter will be B; if it is 2, the letter will be C; and if it is 3, the letter will be D.” “This is one of the many precautions taken by the government against counterfeiters. You can tell instantly whether a bill is bad or good by making that test. I wouldn’t give a five-cent piece for a one-thousand-dollar bill, no matter how perfect it seemed, if its little letters did not correspond with the remainder obtained by dividing the last four figures of its number by four.”