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Antique Check Protectors

Check protectors were used to prevent raising of the monetary figures on checks and other financial documents. In some cases, early check protectors were also used to prevent alteration of the payee, signature, and date. 

Prior to the introduction of mechanical check protectors, checks were sometimes protected in other ways. One method was to print dollar amounts along the edge of the check and then cut off the printed amounts that exceeded the value of the check. An example is provided by the 1837 check below left. A later example is the 1913 Wells Fargo & Co. money order below right (see left end of the top money order). (Wells Fargo Museum, San Francisco, CA).

Another form of protection was to print a pattern on the paper that made alterations easier to detect.  Three examples are shown below:

         
Murphy's Unalterable Stereographic Bank Check, 1858 (left)
Check printed in 1860s and used in 1878 (middle)
Check with Mendel's Patented Protective Tint, 1881 (right)

Some background on various methods used to reduce the ability of people to raise the amounts on checks is provided immediately below. 

William J. Burns, Stories of Check Raisers and How to Protect Yourself, 1923, pp. 13, 19-20.
Click on the images to enlarge.

Max Emanuel Berolzheimer of New York, NY, was awarded a US patent for a check protector in 1869, but we have no evidence that the device he invented was manufactured. Leffingwell reports that "The patent office records show the first form of mechanical protection to have been a 'check puncher,' patented in 1870. Soon the master 'scratchers' discovered that anything which is punched or cut out of pieces of paper can be restored."  While that may have been the case, check punches were the most common form of check protector used in the late 19th century. A perforating machine for checks, which may have been a check protector or a check canceler, was exhibited by John R. Hoole of New York, NY, at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition. 

"One of the earliest models of check protectors introduced the fundamental principle of forcing into the paper the words representing the amount, making them part of the fiber.  The first machine operating on this principle was fitted together in 1899.  This early model [made by G.W. Todd] embossed the approximate amount of a draft into the paper, using black ink, in the form of a 'Not Over' or limiting line.  The succeeding years, up until 1913, were experimental variations on the 'shredding principles.'  The result was the perfecting of a check-writing machine shredding the amount of checks." 

"In 1914 a figure-writing check writer was placed on the market [by Hedman]. This machine printed the amount line of a check in figures, stamping the imprint through the paper of the check. In 1917 a new model appeared on the market [made by Hedman, with another made by Safe-Guard] which had diagonal writing and perforation over the payee's name.  In 1919 a check protector [made by Checkometer] which printed the amount in numerals and at the same time perforated an uninked design over the payee's name appeared on the market." (W. H. Leffingwell, The Office Appliance Manual, 1926, pp. 185-89.) 

Following the present page, the Early Office Museum's first exhibit covers check punches and perforators from 1870 through 1899. The second exhibit covers check protectors from 1900 to the 1920s. The third exhibit covers simpler check protectors, including handheld devices and ones that embossed fine quilted patterns over the writing on checks. The fourth exhibit covers canceling machines, and the fifth covers revenue stamp mutilators.

Ways in which Check Protectors Attempted to Prevent Alteration of the Amounts on Checks

Specimen	Description	Check Protector Models
We have seen checks dated 1874-83 and 1917 with quilted patterns. The 1874 check above left has the quilted pattern over the dollar figure, which was typical.  The 1883 check above right has the quilted pattern over the signature, which was less common.	Embosses over dollar figure	Top left:  Security Top right:  B. B. Hill, Pearl, Grabler, Metallic Art
We have seen checks with perforated numerals dated 1873 (above left) and 1889-1908. We have also seen a check dated 1875 that was perforated with the word "PAID" (above right)	Numerals formed by small round perforations	Abbott, Chicago, S&P
	Perforations are indelibly inked	Wesley, Royal
We have seen checks with punched numerals dated 1871 (above left, scanned against red paper) and 1887-1910.  Checks with punched numerals are more common than checks with perforated numerals throughout the years 1887-1910.	Numerals punched out of paper	Automatic Bank, Lightning, Standard, US, and Williams Check Punches
1900 check with inked numerals	Cuts but does not remove any of the paper & inserts indelible ink into the fibers	Beebe
The 1898 check on the left is protected with "LESS THAN ONE DOLLAR," which may have been written with a hand stamp.  The 1912 check on the right is protected with "NOT MORE THAN FIFTEEN DOLLARS $15."  We have seen protection similar to the latter on checks dated 1909-16.	Printed line setting upper limit	Protectograph  (1896 model), Baby Defiance, New Printamount,  Dimunette
1915 check with macerated words in black and red ink.  We have seen similar protection on checks dated 1914-24.	Macerates words in check & inserts black & red ink	Protectograph (1913 model) (top specimen at left), Peerless Junior (bottom specimen at left)
	.	New Safety
	Macerates words in check & inserts red ink	Safe-Guard
1918 check with macerated words and numerals.  We have seen similar protection on checks from 1918-38.	Combined words & numerals	F&E (1914)
	Protects payee & amount	Hedman (1917)
	Embosses check	Wright

For additional photographs of check protectors, see Michael A. Brown, Antique Check Writers: A Collector's Guide from A to Z, 1998, and Thomas A. Russo, Office Collectibles: 100 Years of Business Technology, Schiffler, 2000.

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