When the genuineness of a bank-note is doubted, the Lathe Work on
the note should first be closely scrutinized. The several letters
of denomination, circles, ovals, and shadings between and around the
letters in the words, etc., are composed of numberless extremely fine
lines--inclusive of lines straight, curved and network. These are all
regular and unbroken, never running into each other, and may be traced
throughout with a magnifying glass.
Without the skill or machinery, by which the genuine is produced, the
same quality of work cannot be done. Therefore, in a counterfeit, the
lines are imperfect, giving the paper a dull or hazy aspect, that may
be all the better appreciated by comparing it with the genuine. The
lines in the counterfeit will be found now and then irregular in size,
and broken: not uniform in course, sometimes heavy, sometimes light:
no two stamps or dies on the same note being exactly alike.
The fine, uniform, shade-lines, with which the letters on the genuine
are embellished, are wrought by a machine that cannot be reproduced
by counterfeiters, nor used for other than legitimate purposes, by
authority.