The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1893-06-28
FIFTY THOUSAND A DAY.
When and How the Crisp Bank Of
England Notes Are Made.


In picturesque Hampshire nook
in the valley of the river Test stands
a busy mill from which is produced
the paper whose crispness is music
to the human ear all the world over
Since 1719 this Leverstoke mill has
been busy in the manufacture of the
Bank of England note paper, and at
the present time about $4,000 of the
coveted crisp pieces of paper are
made there daily.
To q careless observer there does
not appear to be much difference be-
tween a Bank of England note of
the present day and one of those
which were first issued toward the
end of the seventeenth century, but
when looked into it will be found
that the present note is as regards
the quality of the paper and the ex-
cellence of the engraved writing a
much more remarkable production.
The fact is, the Bank of England
and forgers of false notes have been
running a race-the bank to turn out
a note which defes the power of the
forger to initiate it, and those MIN
ble-fngered and keen-witted gentry
to keep even with the bank.
The notes now in use are most
deliberately manufactured bits of
paper. The paper itself is remark
able in many ways; none other has
that peculiar feel of crispness and
toughness, while the eye (when it
has satisfied itself with the amount)
may dwell with admiration on the
papers remarkable whiteness. Its
thinness and transparency are guards
against two once popular modes OF
forgery-the washing out of the
printing by means of turpentine and
erasure with the knife.
The wirewark, is another precau-
ton against counterfeiting, and is
produced in the paper while it is in
state of pulp. In the old manu-
facture of bank notes this water
mark was caused by an immense
number of wires Cover $1,000 stitched
and sewn together now it is engraved
in a steel-faced die, which is after
ward hardened and is then used as a
punch to stamp the pattern out OF
plates of sheet brass. The shading
of the letters of this WATERWAYS
enormously increases the difficult of
imitation.
The paper is made entirely from
pieces of new linen and cotton, and
the toughness of it can be roughly
guessed from the fact that a single
bank note will, when unsized, sup.
port the weight of thirty-six pounds
while when sized you may lift fifty.
six pounds with it.
Few people would imagine that q
Bank of England note was not Of
the same thickness all through. II
is not, though. The paper is thick.
or in the left hand corner to enable
it to take a better and sharper i'm
preston of the vignette there, and
It is also considerably thicker in the
dark shadows of the center letters
and under the figures at the ends.
Counterfeit notes are invariably
of only one thickness throughout.
The printing is done from electro
types, the figure of Britannia being
al Academician.
Evon tho printing ink is of specia
make, and is manufactured at the
bank. Comparing genuine with {
forged note, one observes that the
print on the latter is generally
blush or brown. On the real note
it is velvety black.
The chief ingredients used in
making the ink are linseed oil and
the charred husks and some Other
portions of Rhenish grapes.
The notes are printed at the rate
of 5000 an hour at Napier's steam
press, and the bank issues 100000
of them in year, representing
about t3OO,OOO,OOO in hard cash.
London AmsWers.