 Counterfeit coin was historically that, along with the advent of paper money, counterfeiting of notes made it, and it is mainly on this that counterfeiters concentrate today. Although the counterfeiting of currency of any particular country, in that country itself, is always very... Sometimes legalizations do not provide penalties for the counterfeiting of foreign currency at all, or else provide penalties for it which are considerably lighter. The International Convention of Geneva of the 20th of April, 1929, stipulated that all signatories should visualize the counterfeiting of foreign currency as heavily as that of their own currency. Counterfeiting is practiced on such a wide scale that it seriously affects national economy. Coins are made from discs of samurai and bear a design in relief. The edge of a coin may be smooth, ribbed, or engraved. Coins are counterfeited either by casting in a mold or by stamping. In casting money, the counterfeiter first of all molds the genuine coin in fine plaster. The mold is often composed of two parts, one for each side of the coin, and has tally studs and an opening for pouring the metal in. The two parts of the mold having been assembled, an alloy, generally containing lead, tin, or antimony, is poured into it. There are other types of mold and other ways of molding, but the result is more or less the same. Any defects in the coin used as a model are always reproduced. Also, there is a projection left where the metal was poured in on the edge of the coin. This projection has to be removed and the edge of the coin touched up with a file or graver. This touching up often leaves a quite obvious mark. This method of forging coins is often employed by dental mechanics who, owing to their work, have the necessary material for making molds and castings. This process must be performed by fitters and the turner with the help of an engraver retoucher and a fairly expensive plot. In order to forge coins by stamping, first of all, an impression of the coin must be obtained in a block of steel. One of the processes used is to stamp an impression in a polished block of steel with the coin to be forged, mounted on another block of steel. This process is, of course, repeated for the other side. The block which bears the impression is called the die or stamp. It must be hand retouched to correct the small imperfections caused in the stamping process and those which existed in the original. This touching up by the engraver necessarily leaves traces which are his trademark. When the die has been retouched and any superfluous metal removed, it is hardened by tempering. If the edge of the coin is ribbed or bears designs in relief, special tools are necessary. The ring die, which may be a complete ring or in several sections with the concave surface engraved. In stamping, the edge of the coin is the chief obstacle for the forger. The discs or blanks used for making counterfeit coins are cut out of sheets of metal. The next step is the actual stamping. To obtain an impression of the die on the blanks, the counterfeiters may use a mechanically driven coining press or one work by hand. A cutting or eccentric press or a drop hammer. When a drop hammer is used, counterfeiters have to find isolated premises as the noise it makes is very characteristic. How is it possible to distinguish a false from a genuine coin? If the alloy of the false coin is quite different from that of the genuine one, the luster and sound will serve to show the difference. In order to obtain the requisite luster, forgers sometimes use electroplating to cover the base metal of the coin with a thin layer of gold or silver. In such cases, scratching the coin will show whether it is genuine or not. The density of the metal may be determined also. Spectrum analysis may also be useful in the identification or comparison of coins. Spectroscope is of no help in determining the authenticity of a coin, which is made from an alloy of the same composition as the genuine one. This may happen when there is a difference in the market value of the metal and its value in the form of coins. In such an event, as in all the others, it is the examination of the design which is the most certain method of determining whether a coin is genuine or not. And this is done by discovering the trademarks left by the engraver Retoucher, mainly on the edge of the coin. Paper money is made by printing a design generally in colors on a special paper. The printing process may vary with the issuing authority, but we shall only describe the most usual methods used by counterfeiters. Complete notes are very rarely drawn by hand. These are often imperfect, and this method will not be described. Photography, on the other hand, has made reproduction available to all, and it may be said that it forms the basis of all reproductions of banknotes. It should be pointed out here that, contrary to general opinion, the photographic reproduction of a design is never absolutely accurate. The comparison of the genuine and the pulse under the magnifying glass always shows a characteristic difference in the two designs. A photographic reproduction is always less well defined and clear than the original. Some parts are blurred and finer details disappear. The defects may have to be rectified by the Retoucher. This work is always recognizable, even when the Retoucher works on enlargements of the photograph. It should be said that half-turn designs and certain printing processes require the use of a screen, which is placed in front of the photograph. The screen is made up of a network of fine lines placed more or less closely together, so that the photograph is broken down into a series of squares, whose area depends upon the spacing of the lines. Let us now examine the chief processes printing has to offer counterfeiters for the reproduction of banknotes. The design to be reproduced is placed on a sheet of metal, wood, rubber, or plastic, and the surface around it removed with an appropriate tool. So in typography, this design appears in relief. In order to obtain a reproduction on paper, the surfaces in relief are covered with an even layer of ink. It may readily be understood that if the printing pressure is too great, the projecting surfaces may press into the paper and so deform it. This deformation is negligible if the printing is done correctly. A thin layer of fish glue containing micromet is spread over a zinc or copper plate. This layer is spread out evenly and dried in a whirler. After this, the layer becomes light sensitive. The forger may thus reproduce the photograph on this plate by exposing it to a strong light, say that of an electric arc, for example. Where the light strikes the sensitized layer, the micromet glue becomes insoluble. When it is washed in water, the metal is exposed where the layer was protected from the light. The plate is then immersed in an acid bath. The metal is attacked where it has been exposed. In this way, a block is obtained with the original design in relief. Typographic reproduction may consequently make depressions in the paper. Engraving consists in hollowing out a plate of metal along the lines of the design, either by means of a tool which is known as an intaglio or by an acid which is etching. The ink is put into the hollows formed and wiped off elsewhere. This is consequently the reverse of typography. If the pressure is too great when printing, the paper is deformed. But this time in relief. Photographure has also a sunken design. A photograph of the design is transferred onto metal, generally onto a copper cylinder. This cylinder bearing the design formed by the action of an acid constitutes the block in photographure. Counterfeiters rarely use photographure. The photograph makes use of the well-known fact that oil and water do not mix. A design is drawn on a piece of very fine grained limestone with a special fatty ink. If the stone is wet, the inking roller will only deposit the ink on the parts bearing the design, as these have not retained any water. The printing is therefore done by parts which are, to all intents and purposes, quite flat and do not deform the paper. Let us now replace the heavy lithographic stone by a thin sheet of metal. As in the making of photographic plates, a light sensitive layer containing micromet is spread over the plate. And the photograph, to be reproduced, is copied by exposure to light. Then, by a special process, water absorbent salts are deposited on the parts of the plate, not protected by the micromet layer. If a wet sponge is passed over this prepared metal plate, the inking roller will only ink over the lines of the design. Thus you have a more convenient equivalent of the lithographic stone. There is one drawback. The reproduction of the design is not a mirror image, so that a print taken from it would be a reversed image. How can this difficulty be surmounted? The ink of the offset block is transferred, or offset, onto a rubber roller, and it is this roller which prints the paper. With the aid of this roller, the print is a true and not a reversed image. Offset printing is extensively used by counterfeiters because it is fast and faithfully reproduces the colours. Up to now, we have dealt only with single colour reproduction. If there are several colours in the design, what is called a selection is made. This means that the design is photographed three times, one through a green filter, a violet and an orange one. These colours being complementary to the three primary colours, red, yellow and blue, respectively. The three monochromatic plates are used for printing, and different combinations of the three primary colours do practically all possible colours. The plates have to be carefully adjusted so as to avoid overlapping images on the print. The importance of colours should not be exaggerated in connection with the detection of counterfeit notes. Handling affects the colour, and in addition, the shade may vary from one legal issue to another. On the contrary, colour is an excellent protection if the choice of shades complicates the photographic selection. In conclusion, there are three fundamental printing processes, considered from the point of view of printing surfaces. Surfaces in relief, typography and half-term reproduction, which may make depressions in the paper. Hollowed-out surfaces, engraving and photographure, which may cause the design on the paper to appear in relief. Flat surfaces, lithography and offset, which never deform the paper. Counterfeiters use these processes in the following order of frequency. Offset, for which there are small machines which produce accurate work at high speed. Typographical photographure, lithography. The stages in counterfeiting are generally the following. Photographing of the design with the greatest possible accuracy of reproduction, as many enlargements as there are colours are made. Retouching of the enlargement with ink. Preparation of the plates for printing. The actual printing. Each print being printed over as many times as there are colours. Paper is obtained by drying a cellulose pulp whose interwoven fibres are interspersed with mineral substances such as talc, kaolin, et cetera, and organic substances such as glues, starch, resin, colouring matter, et cetera. Unprocessed paper has a dull and irregular surface. It is made smooth by pressure. The paper is submitted to different processes according to the type required. Some being treated with acids, other with colouring matter, paraffin and so on. During the making of paper, when the pulp begins to take on a certain consistency, it is passed over a metal plate or cylinder bearing a design in relief. This produces permanent differences in the thickness of the paper according to the design and may be perceived as differences in the transparency. This is the watermark which is not a drawing but an alteration in the body of the paper itself. For the counterfeiter, the watermark is a serious difficulty, perhaps the greatest. Instead, he generally produces it either by means of pressure on the finished paper, which results in a counterfeit note which is easy to detect, even by touch, or by drawing it in with a colourless fatty ink. This, however, on contact with the air gradually turns yellow and is too visible. During the manufacture of the pulp, special ingredients may be mixed in, such as fine strips of metal, coloured silk, et cetera. In such cases, counterfeiters do not make a special paper but add these substances by means of pressure or just draw them in with delicate strokes of the pen or by printing. Scientific tests are generally superfluous in the detection of counterfeits. It is the examination of the watermark which is of the greatest importance. The numbering of counterfeit notes sometimes leads to their detection. The issuing authorities often use codes which, by the application of certain mathematical formulae, make it possible to say straight away if the note is genuine or not. The detection is not so useful now because of the use of photography. It is clear that something is wrong if there are two notes with the same number. In short, the counterfeit is only perfect when it is based on the genuine, which means that the counterfeiter must have obtained, one way or another, the genuine paper, plates, and inks. We shall only deal with counterfeit notes. Actually, what we shall say applies more or less to counterfeit coins as well. Generally speaking, counterfeiters print notes of moderate face value, such as the common used by the man in the street. The $10 bill, $20 or $50, the one pound note, and the five pound note, 100 Belgian francs and 20 Swiss francs. The exchange rate of the genuine currency influences counterfeiters greatly. They will counterfeit currency, which is in great demand but difficult to obtain. In other words, local and international political and economic conditions have a great influence on counterfeiting. It is more profitable to counterfeit hard currencies, and the profit depends, of course, on the difference between the official and the unofficial rate of exchange. Furthermore, the counterfeiting of foreign currencies is a better proposition since they're not so well known to the general public and not so easily detected. In countries where currency restrictions exist, the victim, being himself on the wrong side of the law, thinks twice about reporting the matter. As the manufacturing is done in one country and the setting in another, the work of the police is complicated, or at least that is the intention of the counterfeiter. Like any other form of production, counterfeiting may be done by a single artisan or on an industrial scale. When the artisan takes up counterfeiting, the process is primitive. A lower middle-class counterfeiter works in a room at home with an ordinary camera or uses his skill at draftsmanship to reproduce the genuine money. Incidentally, it is interesting to note that many counterfeiters of this type are merely persons with a certain amount of skill at handicrafts who make the necessary apparatus with the means that happen to be at hand. Such people are not usually professional photographers, printers, or engravers, but nevertheless sometimes succeed in producing articles which are astonishingly good. There are three variations of large-scale counterfeiting schemes. Firstly, there is the professional printer having all the necessary equipment using his workshop for counterfeiting while carrying on a normal business. He secretly prints counterfeit notes. Such counterfeits are dangerous for the other work of a professional. However, such cases are rare. All the work is done on the spot by the same persons and more or less during the same period. It is a centralized business. The second variation differs from the first one just mentioned in that there is not necessarily a workshop ready for an immediate use. This is a matter for a gang leader who is also a business man. There is a great deal of organization to be done. The choice of the site for the workshop is important. The counterfeiters could be betrayed by the noise of machines or by visits at unusual times. The workshop is generally in a cellar at the back of a shop or better still in an isolated house in the summer in the country. The apparatus for the workshop is either built or, as is generally the case, bought from a wholesaler or second-hand dealer. Then begins the search for the paper. This has sometimes to be bought abroad or even stolen from stocks of the genuine paper. In general, the workers or technicians are paid after the counterfeit has been produced. They receive genuine money or occasionally counterfeit money which they have made themselves. In the latter case, they may become freelance salesmen of counterfeits. They are often cheated out of the money which they were originally promised. Since the counterfeiters have little confidence in each other, it often happens that they do not know who the organizers are. They are contacted and driven to the workshop by confederates. Sometimes they do not even know where they work. That is why the actual printer is generally only an accomplice with no knowledge of the organization. Once the printing has been done, the counterfeiters generally dismantle the workshop and the workers scatter. They stock the counterfeit money and wait a certain length of time before they put it into circulation. It is rarely that both printing and circulating go on at the same time. The third and most common variation is a decentralized enterprise. There is not just one workshop, but a whole series of them used for a short time only. For instance, photography, plate making, retouching and printing are respectively done at A, B, C and D. Sometimes even the two sides of the same note are printed in different places by different persons. The artisan counterfeiter never manages to produce a large quantity of notes, of course. They are put into circulation either by the maker himself or by his close relations. The notes are generally got rid of when making the usual purchases for his immediate needs, as it is the local shopkeepers who are affected most. And the counterfeit money is circulated close to where it is made. The large-scale business method results in large stocks. The different secret transactions are entirely done through associates and are often carried out in two stages. The agreement is made between the producer and the wholesaler while the exchange of counterfeit for good notes takes place at another time in another place and sometimes between other persons anywhere in the most unexpected places. The principle is that of the triangle. Each person knows two others, the one who contacts him and the one he contacts. Each one makes his profit, of course, so that the cost of the counterfeit increases as it is sold from person to person, further and further away from its place of manufacture. The cost of counterfeits is usually 5% of the nominal value when it is first sold. And this may reach 40% or more at the end of the chain. It is safe to assume that the greater the number of counterfeit notes found on a person, the closer one is to the source which issues or distributes them. The greater the exchange value of the counterfeit, the more distant the source. The sums of counterfeit money are generally put into circulation by buying some object or another from a shopkeeper. By obtaining change for a counterfeit note in a shop or travel agency. This is its simple aspect. For large sums, the uttering of counterfeit notes is always a complicated process. The criminal who plays for high stakes will take his time for it, carefully creating confidence by regular purchases with genuine money. So that he may in the end buy something of far greater value with counterfeit notes which are sometimes done up in bundles with genuine notes at the top and bottom. There are thus a great many ways of uttering counterfeit money. They merely depend on circumstances and the ability of the criminal. In counterfeiting, the task of the police is twofold. In the first place, it has to destroy workshops before they can be used whenever possible. And in the second place, to detect and render harmless, all those who utter or make false money. In investigations of this kind, difficulties are often made, mainly by two things. The first place, that is the fact that time and distance reduce the chance of discovery. Currency of the same manufacturer may be circulating in different countries at different times. The isolated investigator may consequently feel himself unequal to the task. The second obstacle is the uniformity of motive in this crime, money. Therefore, there is no special guide of motive to the investigator. What then are the means left to him? Examination of clues, his knowledge of the criminal world, pooled national and international information, questioning the search of premises, watching and informer. How then are these methods to be used? Several scenes from various investigations will give you an idea. There is always something to go on. When the counterfeit note itself, the investigation should never begin until information has been obtained about the counterfeit and his characteristics. In doing his work, the counterfeiter always leaves his trademark. The examination of notes seized may show the process in which it has been made. In this way, the investigator will avoid consulting persons ignorant of the process. The examination of the paper will sometimes give an indication as to its origin. By comparing with other notes seized, the investigator can connect up different cases and establish a connection between them, which was not at first apparent. Expert counterfeiters are relatively few in number. Counterfeiting is a specialist's crime, often being committed by recidivists and professional criminals. The making of counterfeit notes necessitates, as we've pointed out before, obtaining such raw materials as paper, machines and ink. For these reasons, precise information must be obtained and classified, photographs and descriptions of suspect printers, dealers in counterfeit notes and suspect dealers in printing equipment. A knowledge of the criminal world does not only mean a knowledge of criminals. If the police is going to do its work effectively, it must keep in touch with the dealers in secondhand goods with printers who might be contacted by criminals, with specialists in the manufacture of paper and also with the issuing authorities in his own country. This preventive work can only be done by the pooling of information and close cooperation between all police forces of the country. But centralization on a national scale is now no longer anything like adequate, so that international cooperation is daily becoming more and more essential. In fact, any purely national attempt to suppress counterfeiting is now fordoomed to failure. When you know that one issue of counterfeit dollars has been discovered in 14 different countries, there is no need to stress the need for an international central body. And that is what the International Criminal Police Commission is enforcing by virtue of the International Convention of the 20th of April, 1929. On an international level, and according to this agreement, the General Secretariat of the International Criminal Police Commission directs investigations and keeps records of counterfeiters and dealers in counterfeit money. By means of descriptions of counterfeiters and the review, counterfeits and forgeries, the various national centers are kept informed about both criminals and counterfeits. There is one thing that should always be remembered, and that is that the discovery of a counterfeit note is never merely of local importance, even if the local police think that they may be able to solve the problem themselves. Effective suppression necessitates the centralization and coordination of an all-out effort. The interrogation in the great majority of investigations is an essential factor in the preparation of the case. Generally speaking, the victims quite willingly reply to all questions, but what do they know? Nothing or practically nothing. There is little hope of getting anything of use from them. However, the victim's description of the man who gave the note may be good enough to identify one of the criminals. It may seem that it would be best to question the well-known criminal and the temptation to bring him in for questioning would be strong. We shall not here give any advice on how to conduct the question, but let us imagine what would have happened if the suspect had been prematurely interrogated. Dealers in counterfeit money are generally criminals of the cleverest and most cunning type. The money hasn't the faintest suspicion that it wasn't genuine. At this stage, there is no other evidence apart from the counterfeit money and nothing is easier for the criminal to find an excuse and to make up some story which would more or less exonerate him and protect his accomplices. He might mention a bar and give a man's nickname, but there is nothing which will either confirm or disprove his statement. Questioning in connection with counterfeit money is a two-edged weapon. There is the danger that the alarm would be given and that the organization of counterfeiters which might have been rounded up with other methods will disperse. Similarly, it would be even worse to arrest the dealer too soon and that is a mistake that should be avoided at any price. I will search. In the home of the dealer, there will be practically never found any really incriminating evidence. The stocks of counterfeit notes are generally so well hidden that they cannot be found by the usual search. In order to facilitate the work of the police and to get into touch with certain criminals, informers might have to be used. It requires a deep knowledge of human nature and of the way police investigations are conducted to deal successfully with informers. Through the informer, the extremely select circle of counterfeiters may be entered and the investigators may sometimes in this way begin their work very close to the heart of the affair. To what extent and how should the informer be used? Ask your chief each time. His experience will be of the greatest assistance. But be careful. If the lose is discovered, this may not only endanger its success but also have dire consequences for the informer. Their best plan would be not to arrest him but to use all their imagination and skill to see what he does and how he acts. To find out who he associates with, what his habits are and the people he meets. In counterfeiting, shadowing is of supreme importance in police strategy. Only in this way can the job be done thoroughly with discretion and effectiveness. It is far better than acting hurriedly when an immediate though only partial success is achieved with the result that final success is compromised. In order to discover the whereabouts of the secret workshop or if this cannot be done, the place where the stock of counterfeits is kept time and patience are needed. And there is practically no other way than to get the criminal himself or his conscious or unconscious accomplice to lead you there. It is a thankless, difficult and boring task. It may take several weeks or even months. It requires a considerable number of men and adequate resources. One man alone cannot round up a whole gang of counterfeiters. A well-trained team of men will be needed working together under their leader. It is not the number of arrests that is important in the suppression of counterfeiting but the importance of the men arrested. If the job is to be carried out effectively and efficiently plans must be laid carefully and with patience and the trap for the whole gang sprung only when you are sure of obtaining the optimum result. This is how such an operation may be carried out under the most favorable circumstances after many days of discreet investigation. Now gentlemen, the operation will take place tomorrow at time arranged. You will take your men to the house of the chief suspect. You will go with your men to the cafe where the members of the gang will be meeting and the rest will search the isolated villa. Now, be particularly careful about clues. Things like ink stained rags, paper, numbering machines, plates, lists of addresses and so forth. I think that's all. I hope you're successful. See you tomorrow. Third, their sentence may start again. Accomplices in many other countries. Police work therefore to be really effective must embrace the whole world. Your successes, your experiences must be available to all. You yourself may one day benefit from the successes of others. And it is for this purpose, for this indispensable exchange of ideas and information and for the service of the public that the International Criminal Police Commission exists.