exemplars used in the construstion of the ransom note:
source:
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/ransom1.html
A a (uppercase 'A's resembles an inverted 'V', lower case 'a's
have similar body size)
B b ('B's resemble 'P's, lower case 'b's resemble inverted 'p's)
[C] c (vary in scale and approach size of an upper case 'C')
D d (uppercase 'D's are ornate & resemble a rotated 'A', lowercase 'd's have malattached backs and are generally malformed)
e ('e's are uniform, [some of the 'f's remsemble an uppercase 'E'])
f (most variation of form: seen among 'f' exemplars)
g (heads of 'g's resemble an 'a' and have malattached tails)
h (lowercase but large in scale)
I i (uppercase 'I' resemble a 'T' of smaller scale)
J (John)
k ('k' exemplars, identical in form)
L l (two uppercase 'L's used in the note, individual 'l's and
double 'l's, have breaks and distortions)
M m (two uppercase 'M's: one ornate in form / 'm' and 'w's similar when
rotated or inverted)
n (comparable in form to 'r's)
o (when visible, in smaller words, have perfect construction)
P (['P's]similar in form and scale)
q (and an odd little 'q' it is)
R r (one uppercase 'R's within the note, ornate in form, lower
case 'r's, similar size and construction)
S s (the base of some of the larger scale 'S's resembles the c)
T t ( lowercase 't's vary in form)
U u (uppercase U remsebles a rotated C)
V v (V in Victory, little more than a check mark, left branch being shorter
in both upper and lower case exemplars)
W w ( uppercase 'W's look like magnifications of the lower case 'w's,
ie horizontal and vertical stretch applied at 150% to the lowercase)
x (resembles the lowercase 'v' in scale)
Y y (abudance of Y, y s within the note, all of similar scale)
!
% (slash resembles the tails of PR's 'Y's)
- (the word pick - up)