Grand Rapids herald. [volume] (Grand Rapids, Mich.) 1892-1959, 1893-09-01
BANK OF ENGLAND NOTES
Where and How These Valuable Bits
OF Paper Are Printed

or Paper Are Printed
In picturesque Hampshire nook in
the valley of the River Test. says the
London Answers. stands q busy mill.
from which Is produced that paper
whose crispness Is music to the human
ear all the world over. Since l7i9 this
Leverstoke mill has been busy in the
manufacture OF the Bank OF England
note paper, and al the present time
about fifty thousand Of the coveted
crisp pieces of paper are made there
daily.
To a careless observer there does not
appear to be much difference between
a Bank of England note of the present
day and one of those which were first
issued toward the end of the seven
toenth century. but when looked into
it will be found that the present note
IL as regards the engraved writing,
much more remarkable production.
The fact is. the Bank of England and
forgers of false notes have been run
ling q raee-the bank 70 turn out
note which defies the power of the
forger to initiate IL, and these nimble-
fingered and keen-witted gentry to
keep even with the bank
The notes now In use are most elab-
orately manufactured bits of paper.
The paper itself isremarkable in many
ways; none other has that peculiar
feel Of crispness and toughness. while
the eye, when IL has satisfied itself
with the amount, may dwell with adj
miration on the papers remarkable
wilderness. It's thinness and trans
parency are guides against two once
popular modes of forgery. the wash
ing out of the printing by means of
turpentine and erasure with the knife.
The wire mark, or water mark, 10
another precaution against counter
letting, and Is produced in the paper
while it Is in state of pulp. I'm the
old manufacture of bank notes this
water mark was caused by an immense
number OF wires lover two thousand)
stitched aud sewn together; now it is
engraved In steel faced die--which
Is afterward hardened and then Is used
rs punch to stamp the pattern out of
plates of sheet brass The shading Of
the letters of this water mari, enor-
mously increases the difficulty of imi-
tation. The paper Is made entirely
from pieces Of new linen and cotton,
and the toughness of 1t can be- roughly
guessed from the fact that q single
bank note viii. when nnsized. support
q weight OF thirty-six pounds, while
when sized you may lift ffty-six
pounds with IL.
Few people would imagine that a
Bank of England note was not of the
same thickness all through. 1t Is not,
though The paper is thicker In the
left-haDd corner. to enable IL 10 take q
better and sharper impression OF the
vignette there. and II is also consider
ably thicker in the dark shadows Of
the center letters and under the fig
urcs At 'he ends Counterfeit aotes
arc Invariably OF only one thickness
throughout.
The printing IL done from electro
types, the figure of britannia being
the design ~ Of Maclise. the late royal
acadrrnician.
Lven the printing ink II of special
make. and Is manufactured at tho
bank Comparing q genuine with a
forged note. one observes that tho
print on the latter Is generally blush
or b.own. on t!ic real note il II a vel
vr'y slack. The chief ingredients
uscd Ia making the ink are hnseed oil
and the ehsrred hus,<s and some other
portions Of Rheaish grapes
The notes are printed at the rate ~
three Thousand an hour ~ Napier
stran press. and the bank issues nine
million Of them year. representing
three hundred million pounds IN hard
cash