[Wanted Poster] “WANTED FOR FORGERY Rochester, N. Y., October 23, 1908. JULIUS K. DILLMAN is wanted for passing forged check in this city. The following is his description: Julius K. Dillman, alias Julius D. Gray, alias George E. Curtis

A check perforator was a mechanical security device used by businesses and banks in the late 1800s and early 1900s to prevent check fraud. Instead of writing an amount with ink, the machine used a matrix of sharp steel needles to physically punch small, round holes through the paper. By turning a dial and pulling a heavy lever, the user punched the exact dollar amount (e.g., ?$60.00?) directly into the paper fibers. On popular models like the Abbott Automatic Check Perforator pressing the lever automatically advanced the check to the next character slot. In the early 1900s, an unperforated corporate check looked highly suspicious. Honest businesses used these machines specifically because a perforated amount was nearly impossible to alter

Published by stamps, this hardware is exactly why his fakes easily fooled so many local merchants. When Dillman walked into business houses after hours, his fake checks didn't just have handwritten numbers. They featured the exact three-dimensional needle punches. To a local shopkeeper, a check that was physically perforated with the amount looked completely legitimate and pre-approved by a major company's accounting department, allowing him to easily walk away with the cash., Rochester, New York, 1908

About this Item

Wanted Poster 32 x 21 cm. In acid free Mylar sleeve. Will be shipped flat between heavy cardboard layers, never rolled. [Transcription:] ?WANTED FOR FORGERY Rochester, N. Y., October 23, 1908. JULIUS K. DILLMAN is wanted for passing forged check in this city. The following is his description: Julius K. Dillman, alias Julius D. Gray, alias George E. Curtis, 40 years old, 5 ft. 8 1-2 in.; 145 to 150 lbs.; slender build; dark complexion; nose slightly crooked; hair medium chestnut; blue eyes; when last seen wore sandy brown mustache; irregular teeth, with hole between the two front upper ones which may be filled with gold, others are filled with gold and silver; white vertical birth-mark scar on right side of forehead; small mole under left ear; several small moles on left cheek; chicken-pox mark on right cheek; straight scar on top of head four inches above right temple; small wart on back of right hand near wrist; is a nervous dyspeptic; wears No. 7 1-2 shoes, and No. 7 hats; claims to have been born in California. Fac-simile of a check passed in this city recently by Dillman. MERCHANTS BANK OF ROCHESTER ROCHESTER, N.Y. SEP 30 1908 190 NO. 7379 PAY TO THE ORDER OF D. Armstrong & Co $60.00 Sixty DOLLARS NOT OVER SIXTY DOLLARS 60 National Casket Co. R. E. Sease Treas. [Left side stamp:] National Casket Co. His scheme is to enter a prominent business house after banking hours dressed to represent a bookkeeper, sometimes in his shirt sleeves and with a pen behind his ear, and ask if they would kindly cash a check drawn by his firm, as they were short of cash, always mentioning the firm's name of some neighboring business house. If the answer is in the affirmative, he will go back to the store where he claimed to be employed, return again with the check, and after getting the money on it would again return to his supposed place of employment, ask some trivial question of the bookkeeper, and pass out of another door. He carries a full outfit of rubber stamps and blank checks, and also a perforator. His previous convictions are as follows: Arrested under the name of Julius K. Dillman in Boston, Feb. 25, 1885, for passing forged checks, and sentenced to five years in the Massachusetts Reformatory; under the name of George E. Curtis, alias Julius K. Dillman, arrested Jan. 2, 1890, at San Francisco, Cal., for passing forged checks, and sentenced to the California State Penitentiary for six years; discharged March 9, 1895; under the name of Julius D. Gray, arrested at Syracuse, N.Y., March 25, 1899, for passing forged checks, and sentenced May 16, 1899, to four and one-half years in Auburn State Prison, and recently discharged. If arrested, wire me and I will send for him with proper papers. J. C. HAYDEN, Chief of Police.? Before his 1908 Rochester offense, Dillman spent a total of 15.5 years in prison in 3 different states. By 1908 Dillman was traveling and running check scams alongside a woman identified as his wife. Dillman?s post-prison freedom after the Rochester flyer was short-lived. His distinct habits - carrying a portable check perforator, wearing a pen behind his ear, and using the same aliases - made him easy for regional detectives to track down. Following the publication of the Rochester police circular on October 23, 1908, Dillman continued moving through Northern Indiana and into Pennsylvania. According to the Goshen Mid-Week News Times, he was tracked down by regional detectives and arrested in Pittsburgh, PA, on Friday, January 8, 1909, while executing his signature bookkeeper scam. Sent back to prison to serve another multi-year term, he cemented his legacy as one of the era's most persistent habitual check forgers. He was born in 1868, probably in California, and his career path was defined by a predictable cycle of cross-country movement, check fraud, prison sentences, and immediate re-offending upon release. 1885 (Age 17): Commits his first major documented string of financial crimes. . .

Seller Inventory # 017807

Bibliographic Details

• Title: [Wanted Poster] ?WANTED FOR FORGERY Rochester, N. Y., October 23, 1908. JULIUS K. DILLMAN is wanted for passing forged check in this city. The following is his description: Julius K. Dillman, alias Julius D. Gray, alias George E. Curtis
• Publisher: stamps, this hardware is exactly why his fakes easily fooled so many local merchants. When Dillman walked into business houses after hours, his fake checks didn't just have handwritten numbers. They featured the exact three-dimensional needle punches. To a local shopkeeper, a check that was physically perforated with the amount looked completely legitimate and pre-approved by a major company's accounting department, allowing him to easily walk away with the cash., Rochester, New York
• Publication Date: 1908
• Language: English
• Binding: No Binding
• Illustrator: or "raise" without destroying the check. By carrying a portable, compact check perforator in his kit, Dillman could forge a check from scratch and give it the authentic, industrial look of a real corporate payroll check. Combined with his custom rubber. .
• Condition: Good