Forensics

Someone trying to sell a baseball allegedly signed by Babe Ruth in the early 1920s, or pass off documents as older than they really are, is up against a serious foe: The United States Secret Service.

You might know that the Secret Service is on guard against counterfeit currency. You might not know, however, that it also keeps a one-of-a-kind International Ink Library with more than 11,400 specific writing ink fingerprints on hand. The ink library handles a variety of cases, from threat letters — the Secret Service protects not only the President but also other high-profile government officials — and ransom letters, baseballs, and phony documents where someone is "trying to obscure the truth in some way," says Joseph Stephens, ink library document analyst.

The Secret Service Uses This Massive Ink Library To Catch Forged Documents