While lathe work and that of the ruling engine are invariably
machine work, and therefore cannot be successfully reproduced by
counterfeiters, the Vignettes are chiefly the work of the hands. In
all genuine work they are made by first class artists, who are well
paid for their services, and who therefore have no incentive to
exercise their skill for illegitimate purposes.
Sometimes water and sky are done with the ruling engine, and when they
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.