The steel plate, next to the title-page, contains a standard specimen of
all the different styles of genuine engraving on all bank notes of all
banks in the United States. But _those particular patterns_ or dies do not
belong to any regular Bank-note Engraving Co. in the U.S. They, with
others, were sold at auction some years since, and duplicate dies have
been made from them and scattered over the country, New York, Boston and
Philadelphia, and some of them have got into counterfeiters’ hands, who
use them in their spurious issues. Therefore no pattern like any one of
these will ever be seen in a genuine note; but one or more of the
duplicates of them will often be seen in a counterfeit. The plate
therefore serves two purposes--1st, illustrating genuine and perfect work;
2d, to guard against genuine auction dies used in counterfeits.
Another auction vignette die, often seen in counterfeits, but never in a
genuine bill, is a woman sitting by a sheaf of wheat, canal lock on the
right and locomotive and bridge on the left.