The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1873-12-26
COUNTERFEIT NOTES,
Some Incidents In the History of the
Bank of England

Bank of England.
Chow is it, asks some person in the
query-column of Sunday paper, ''that
the bank of England notes are never
counterfeited? In comparison with our
gorgeous bills, they are simplicity it.
self" The question and statement both
imply misapprehension. Bank of En-
gland notes are counterfeited-haye
been counterfeited ever since they be-
gan to be used-and in the numerical
proportion of the two are as often sue
cessfully counterfeited as our own bank
notes. In spite of every precaution
adopted by the bank of England-of
the manufacture of its own paper with
in the walls of the great building of
the printing, water-lining, numbering,
marking, registering, signing and coun-
tersigning under the vigilant eyes of ev-
er-present officials; in spite of the most
perfect machinery, peculiar ink, pre-
else cutting, methodical adjustment of
parts of every note to its whole, letter
ing, private indenting, stamping and i'm
pressing, the public is continually de-
frauded by counterfeits. Nothing shows
this more certainly than the common
English custom, well known, of the
holder of a bank. note indorsing his
name on its back. AS to the simplicity
of the stiff bank of England notes VIII n
compared with our flexible bank-bills,
1 submit that the question admits of
two opinions. ] class the former with
the numbering wheels of English vehi-
Giles, the ponderous carriages of English
railways; the cramped accommodations
of English river and channel steam
boats, the cumbrous make of English
harness, the droningresponseso of English
parish clerks and the terrible dullness
of English sermons.
The day on which forged note was
first presented at the bank of England
forms on era in its history. 1t was in
| 1853, and from that day until now, du-
ring this period of lis years, there has
passed no decade in which more than
| ESQ., 900 have not been refused payment
at the bank on the plea of forgery.
| Sometimes the amount greatly exceeds
| this. In the first ten years of the pres
| ent century it rose to e101, 661, and from
| 1850 to 1860 cts, 40 were stamped
''forged" at the bank counter. In fact,
| the losses occurring to this institution
! from forged notes are, and always have
been, commensurate with the greatness
of its transactions. Some of the more
curious of these forgeries are perhaps
worth narrating,
John MathisOn was a man of great
mechanical capacity, who, becoming ac-
| quainted with an engraver, unhappily
acquired that art which ultimately
proved his ruin. A yet more dangerous
qualification was his of initiating sig
natures with inconceivable accuracy
| Tempted by the hope of sudden wealth,
his first forgeries were the notes of a
country bank. Scorning, however, to
confne his talents within so narrow
bounds, he came up to London, and in
| less than one month had engraved,
fabricated, forged, printed and nego-
tiated several 200 notes of the bank of
England. When he had made suffi-
| cient number, he travelled from one end
| of the kingdom to the other, disposing
of them. Having been in the habit of
procuring notes from the bank, the
more accurately to copy them, he
Glanced to be there when a clerk from
the excise Office paid in 1000 guineas
in gold, one of which was scrupled
Mathison, from distance. said it was a
| good one. "Then," said the bank
clerk on the trial, 81 recollecte him. -
! The frequent visits of Mathison, who
was very incautious, together with
| other circumstances, created a suspicion
| that he might be connected with forged
notes that were being continually pre-
scented. One day he was detained,
taken to the bank parlor and confronted
with the directors. To every question
put to him he had but solitary an
swer:
Ct decline to reply. I know not how
| r oov,,- into 4bic would nor how r shall
go out of it."
Sir John Fielding then read des-
| cription of his CMathison's) appearance
from a country newspaper, when the
| fellow broke down Immediately and
| confessed. He offered to explain the
secret of his discovery of the water
mark, provided his life was spared; but
his proposal was rejected, and he paid
the penalty of his crime.
| Some nine years ago, Solomon Bacon,
a well-know merchant in London, re-
| ceived a letter from his correspondent
in Hamburg, which grieved and trou-
bled him. It stated that the writer had
been defrauded by his nephew, son of a
| Widowed sister, ont of 100000, and
| had fed to London with the money.
/ There was a reluctance to make the
matter public, and Mr.. Bacon was de-
| sired to keep silence; "but, D." the letter
went on to say, 'fif you invite John to
| dinner, and when alone tax him with
the crime, he might, perhaps, refund
! the money. Should he do so, you may
! give him $500" The London merchant
| found the young German, took him
| home, and when the ladies had with
| drawn from the dinner table, he &C.
| quainted his visitor with his knowledge
of the fraud. Alarm was depicted on
the countenance of his guest. "You
will not make this public, Mr.. Bacon 2"
he asked.
"Not if you return me the money
now and here.;'
"But I lost eI,OOO last night at
Crockford's, and havenot the power"
Well" said the merchant, "return
me then $4,000, and, though a littleex
| coed my instructions, I will neverthe-
less give you back $500"
"My uncle is very good" remarked
the young man, and he forthwith han
ded from his pocket-book nine 81, 900
notes to his host"
81 cannot change one of these"
said Mr.. Bacon "will not my check
do as we'll ?"
"Quite," replied the German; and,
having received the 95O0 check, hastily
left.
The following morning Mr.. Bacon
went to his banker to pay in the notes,
and found to his surprise that they
were all counterfeits. His next inquiry
was after his check, but that was al
ready cashed. He then telegraphed to
his Hamburg correspondent, and learned
that he was profoundly ignorant about
the whole affair. It was as adrOit a
fraud as was ever plotted.
The following notice appeared in the
Times, of August, 1868:
"On the 18th inst, $40 were paid in
to the bank. for which the clerks, as
usual, gave ticket to receive a bank
note of equal value. This ticket ought
to have been carried Immediately to
the cashier, instead of which, the bear
er took il away, curiously added an 0
to the original sum, and presented to
the cashier a note of G100. In the even
ing the clerks found deficiency in the
accounts and on examining the tickets
of the day, not only that but two others
were discovered to have been obtained
in the same manner. In the one the
figure l was altered to 4, and in an