The Sun.
London, England, 1854-12-21 00:00:00

SOCIETY OF ARTS.

THE NEW BANS OF ENGLAND NOTE.
At the ordinary meeting of the Society of Arts, held
last evening—Henry Cole, Esq., C. 8., vice-president,
in the chair—a paper was read by Mr. Alfred Smee,
F.R.S., "Upon the Bank of England Note, and the
bubstitution of Surface Printing from Electrotype for
the
.ordinary Plate Printing." Mr. Smee stated that
the authorities of the bank had determined to modify
and improve the bank note, and that under the direction
of the late governor, Mr. Hankey, a new form of Bank
of England note had been designed. In the new note
great improvements have been made in the paper on
which the note is printed, and, by the employment of
Smith and Brewer's patent, the water mark has been
carried to greater perfection than heretofore. For the
first time the letters and figures of the denomination are
shaded, which produces considerable artistic effect, and
greatly increases the difficulty of forgery. Many curious
details were afforded of the extreme care taken to pro-
tect the public by preventing a single sheet of paper
from being possibly abstracted from the formation of the
pulp at the Bank paper mills, by Mr. Portal, to the final
destruction of the notes.
A new Britannia has been devised by Mr. M'Clise.
and engraved by Robinson, to be used in the place of
the former vignette, and the writing on the new note
is rendered " I promise to pay to bearer on demand,"
instead of " I promise to Matthew Marshall, or bearer,"
as heretofore.

Mr. S3IEE stated that he had proposed to the Bank a
system whereby surface-printing from electrotype should
be substituted for the plate printing, and that, with Mr.
Hensman and Mr. Coe, they had succeeded in bringing
typography into successful operation for all the numer-
ous forms of notes and cheques required. For this pur-
pose the Britannia had been cut in steel by Mr. Thomp-
son, and the letters had been produced in the best pos-
sible state of excellence by Mr. Skirviag. The originals
are never employed for printing, but are simply used
as mould makers, from which eleotro-casts are taken,
by the use of the ordinary Smee'e battery and preci-
pitating trough. The electro-metallurgic processes, as
used in the bank, were minutely described, together with
several new points in connection therewith. The bank-
notes by this system are printed at a steam press, con-
structed by Napier, and no less than 3,000 notes are
printed per hour.
The author called attention to the theory of inimita-
bility. He stated that the system pursued by the bank
was so perfect that no forged note had ever escaped
eventual detection. By the new system, the most per-
fect identity would be insured, and thus traders had only
to pay attention to the quality of the paper, and the
character of the design, to protect themselves. The
author stated that great importance was attached to
identity, but further he considered that the doctrine of
inimitability should be classed with the fanciful dreams
of the philosopher's stone and elixir of life of a bygone
age.
The public were particularly recommended invariably
to take down the letter and number of every note which
came into their possession, as this short memorandum
will suffice at the bank to obtain every particular con-
nected with it.
The paper was illustrated throughout by the means by
which Mr. Smee's system has been carried out, as well
as by specimens of the different parts of the processesf
required, and specimens of various denominations o
bank-notes were, by the kindness of Mr. Hubbard,
therlevernor of the Bank, exhibited to the Society.
After the reading of the paper by Mr. Smeer, the
.
secretary stated that he had received from
.111 h. 1,7
Stones some " Observations on the means awn a let
nor
securing bank-notes, cheques, and similaf. inmyorTabis
documents, against counterfeit and altseratelobe. 'sou
sought
gentleman considered that protection wa
thein
o accumulationfanoyf cohneec k
ps
atrot formifeourlgaerr, r a t h eo rf
stehuarni t
yi n.
thesuperiority
m
He
eobtaining reviewed
the
some
desiredof theout lessh
em und e availabler
forsecurity, morey,trea orting
facture of the paper ; chemical preparations
e
the following heads—peculiarities in
thepfuotrromduancud-
at the time of manufacture or subsequently ; water-
marks or devices introduced for the purpose of dis-
tinguishing any given paper from all others ; the style
. and subject of the engravings ; and the inks used in the
printing.
In a communication to the secretary from Councillor
Auer, Director of the Imperial Printing-office at Vienna,
it is stated that they endeavour to prevent the possi-
bility of the forgery of bank-notes, by adppting the com-
bination of processes, including the nature printing
process, each opposed to the other in its manner of
prating.
A. vote of thanks to Mr. Smee and the directors of the
Bank of Englaiid closed the proceedings.