Forgery
The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary · Walter A. Shumaker and George Foster Longsdorf; ed. James C. Cahill · 1922
The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary
The false making, with Intent to defraud, or any writing which, if genuine, might apparently be of legal ef- Bishop (2 New Crim. Law, § 533) has collected seven definitions of forgery, and justly remarks that the books abound in definitions. Coke says the term is "taken metaphorically from the smith, who beateth upon his anvil, and forgeth what fashion and shape he will."
3 Inst. 169.
The elements are (1) a false making (46 N. H. 266; 28 Minn. 52), but this may consist of a material alteration (64 Wis. 482) (2) of an instrument apparently capable of defrauding (20 Iowa, 541, 118 Mass. 685) (3) with intent to defraud (51 Vt. 105, 15 Mass. 526).