The article analyzes the main terms used by law enforcement investigators and editors of the old newspapers regarding to counterfeiters, the forged money, and the process of selling them. Evidence of lexis in relation to counterfeiting has been traced from the criminal cases stored in the state historical archives of Ukraine and Poland, as well as in newspapers periodicals of Ukrainian cities. Most of the sources used in the study are published for the first time. The counterfeiters in Russian empire were called «manufacturer», «counterfeiter», but in Austro-Hungarian – the «counterfeiter» and «deceiver». The process of falsification in the newspapers of Galicia was defined in relation to money, as «made», «fabricated», in the Russian Empire – «cooked», «fabricated» and others. Most often, the definition of a counterfeiter’s personality was referred to as «counterfeiter», «coin counterfeiter», «counterfeiter». The place of counterfeiting was positioned as a «mint», often with the note «secret» or «illegal».
In most newspaper publications, organized gangs of counterfeiters were described as а «gang banditti». Linguistic tautology «counterfeiting of counterfeit coins» is oftenly applied to counterfeit manufacturers. In terms of paper money, the definition «paper» and «picture» were used. The Galician press often called the trial of counterfeiters a «massacre». In 1915 in Chernihiv the credit notes signed by cashier S. Brut because of misinformation about their fraud, the population became wary of exchanging such a money, calling it «Brut’s rubles». For flat metal engraved cliches to print counterfeit assignments and credit cards the term «boards» was used, and coin counterfeiting tools are referred to as «counterfeiting machines» or «weapon tools».
Problems of organization of the Russian police in the 18 century in the context of political and legal ideas of the Enlightenment
