{"id":3681,"date":"2015-12-09T11:50:36","date_gmt":"2015-12-09T16:50:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/preserving\/?p=3681"},"modified":"2015-12-09T11:50:36","modified_gmt":"2015-12-09T16:50:36","slug":"w-l-olmsby-counterfeiting-exposed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/2015\/12\/09\/w-l-olmsby-counterfeiting-exposed\/","title":{"rendered":"W.L. Olmsby: Counterfeiting Exposed!"},"content":{"rendered":"

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W.L. (Waterman Lilly) Ormsby (1809-1883) was\u00a0a\u00a0notable\u00a0engraver, particularly recognized for his\u00a0dedication to the reformation\u00a0of currency production. While he had some formal training, most of his skills were honed through hours of hands-on work and experimentation in his workshop. He invented several ruling machines\u00a0and\u00a0transfer presses for improving the process of steel engraving. In addition, he is usually credited for the redesign of the five-dollar bill. Outside of banking notes,\u00a0he assisted\u00a0Samuel Morse with his\u00a0telegraphic alphabet and\u00a0provided engravings\u00a0for Samuel Colt’s revolvers. In the end, Ormsby’s most influential\u00a0contribution\u00a0to the engraving trade was his\u00a0personal crusade to bring attention to the proliferation of counterfeiting schemes in the U.S. In 1852, Ormsby published an impressive work on bank note engraving, the most extensive to date, with a\u00a0particular focus on flaws in the current bank system and recommendations on how to counteract currency counterfeiters.<\/p>\n

The losses occasioned by Counterfeiting are already enormous; and, under the present system of Engraving, they must inevitably become greater. The multiplication of Banks, and the increase of dies and machinery, are\u00a0rendering the business of Counterfeiting so easy and so safe, that its rapid increase will be inevitable. But few persons, whose attention has not been directed to the subject, are aware of the alarming extent to which this dangerous crime is now carried. Our Bank Note Detectors teem with cautionary notices and descriptions of counterfeits, alterations of denominations, and other kinds of Forgery, all of which can be distinctly traced to the system of Engraving now universally in use. This evil will go on till the paper currency of the country becomes worthless, unless some remedy, covering all the sources of danger, be adopted.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

There have never been, in the History of Banking, such vast quantities of counterfeit paper thrown upon the community as at this period. The Engraved Plates of more than two thirds of the Banks in this country have been so successfully and fraudulently imitated, that few persons are enabled to discriminate between the genuine and the false paper.<\/em><\/p>\n

-W.L. ORMSBY<\/p>\n

Ormsby also sent\u00a0a personal copy of his book to President-Elect Franklin Pierce, hoping to gain national support.<\/p>\n

Dear Sir:<\/em>
\nAllow me to present you with a copy of my late work on Bank Note Engraving which will explain the cause of the vast amount of counterfeiting in this country. This is the first publication on this subject, and it is daily growing more and more important to every person in the community. I beg permission to call on you, at some future time, when my plans for constructing bank notes to prevent forgery are mature, that I may have an opportunity of convincing you of the utter insecurity of our present paper money, and the necessity of Legislative action on the subject. At present I will only ask your attention to the important requisites of a Bank Note which constitute its value – there are but two – first that the Bank be good – second that the note be genuine. The people loose (sic) more by counterfeiting money than by broken banks. <\/em><\/p>\n

Ironically, Ormsby’s\u00a0own character and reputation came into question several times\u00a0for involvement in\u00a0counterfeiting schemes and banking frauds. While he was never convicted of any wrongdoing, he was either\u00a0conveniently ignorant\u00a0or complicit.\u00a0According to the New York Times, the Mercantile Agency claimed that Ormsby was “in the habit of engraving for any casual applicant for plates without inquiring into his character or the object for which the plates were to be used, and in this way he engraved counterfeit plates on a number of banks in this and other States”. \u00a0As the foremost authority on techniques for currency engraving and how\u00a0counterfeiters circumvent security measures, his motivations in these corrupt\u00a0activities remain unsettled.<\/p>\n

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New England Bank Note Company embellishments easily copied<\/p><\/div>\n

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bank notes: the first and last were copied from genuine dies by Ormsby’s studio<\/p><\/div>\n

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the geometric lathe work denominations<\/p><\/div>\n

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Description:<\/dt>\n
Ormsby, W. L. A description of the present system of bank note engraving, showing its tendency to facilitate counterfeiting :to which is added a new method of constructing bank notes to prevent forgery. New York : W.L. Ormsby ; London : Willoughby, 1852.<\/dd>\n
Persistent Link:<\/dt>\n
http:\/\/nrs.harvard.edu\/urn-3:FHCL:23817588<\/a><\/dd>\n
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Repository:<\/dt>\n
Widener Library<\/dd>\n
Institution:<\/dt>\n
Harvard University<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

W.L. (Waterman Lilly) Ormsby (1809-1883) was\u00a0a\u00a0notable\u00a0engraver, particularly recognized for his\u00a0dedication to the reformation\u00a0of currency production. While he had some formal training, most of his skills were honed through hours of hands-on work and experimentation in his workshop. He invented several ruling machines\u00a0and\u00a0transfer presses for improving the process of steel engraving. In addition, he is usually […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2559,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3681","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2559"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3681"}],"version-history":[{"count":36,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3681\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3717,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3681\/revisions\/3717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3681"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}