exact duplicates of each other. If they were engraved by hand this
would not be the case; and, another thing, hand engraving is more
easily counterfeited than the work done by the processes we herewith
describe.

Every note is printed from a steel plate, in the preparation of which
many persons take part. If you will look at a $5 "greenback" you will
see a picture in the center; a small portrait, called a vignette, on
the left, and in each of the upper corners a network of fine lines
with a dark ground, one of them containing the letter "V" and the
other the figure "5." These four parts are made on separate plates.

To make a vignette it is necessary, first, to make a large drawing on
paper with great care, and a daguerreotype is then taken of the
drawing the exact size of the engraving desired.

The daguerreotype is then given to the engraver, who uses a steel
point to mark on it all the outlines of the picture. The plate is
inked and a print taken from it. While the ink is still damp the print
is laid face down on a steel plate, which has been softened by heating
it red hot and letting it cool slowly. It is then put in a press and
an exact copy of the outline is thus made on the steel plate. This the
engraver finishes with his graver, a tool with a three-cornered point,
which cuts a clean line without leaving a rough edge.

Now this is used for making other plates--it is never used to print
from. It must be made hard and this is done by heating it and cooling
it quickly. A little roller of softened steel is then rolled over it
by a powerful machine until its surface has been forced into all the
lines cut into the plate. The outlines of the vignette are thus