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And that three-copy tradition goes back to "indenture contracts" of the 14th century, at least. The phrase "indentured" means "cut into sharp pointy teeth" (a
by IAmBroom 1y ago
And that three-copy tradition goes back to "indenture contracts" of the 14th century, at least.
The phrase "indentured" means "cut into sharp pointy teeth" (a zig zag pattern). The contract is written out in triplicate by hand on a large sheet. Being hand-cut after the whole document is signed, it is hard to perfectly replicate that cut. Additionally, someone would write "A BIG LATIN WORD" over the area to be cut, so to forge the other piece(s) you have to recreate the demi-penstrokes plausibly.
When two copies don't match, someone is lying. The essential third copy is stored at the Notary Office, which tells you whom is lying.
"Indentured servants" were bound by such a contract.
- terribleperson 1y agoI imagine it would be fairly hard to flawlessly forge a split document even today, at least if you used paper with long fibers and the edges were intact. Even if you match the cut perfectly, I'd bet that under a microscope you could tell that cut fibers on the two halves don't match. A remarkably solid approach considering the simplicity. The split tally is similarly elegant. Of course, just giving a notary a copy works almost as well.