The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1907-04-25
BANK OF ENGLAND NOTES.
The Enormous Output and the Safe
guards Against Forgery.


guards Against Forgery.
| The Bank of England refuses to
use color for it's notes on account
of the fact that the authorities be-
lieve that it's whiteness and appar-
snt simplicity are the greatest safe
guards against forgery. The white
ness of a Bank of England note is
different to that of any other pa
per and is obtained by using only
the very finest linen rags in the
making.
At Laverstoke, little village in
Hampshire, the paper is prepared,
and at the mill there every blank
is as zealously guarded as if it were
already engraved. Every workman
or workwoman employed at the mill
is bound to secrecy, and the secrets
of the mysterious water mark and
texture of the paper are known only
by the most tried and trusted of the
workmen.
1t is not generally known that ev-
cry bank note bears a private water
mark, which is constantly being
changed in way known only to the
head officials and which is discern
ible through a microscope only.
And it says much for the vigilance
and skill of the Bank of England
cashiers that, although they pay on
an average $4,000 in exchange for
notes every day, they have never
yet paid forged note.
The easiest way to detect forged
note is by dampening corner with
the tongue. If genuine, the water
mark appears very distinct. In
counterfeit notes it almost disap-
pears. On a genuine "fiver" there
Is a small white dot on the right
side of the Old English "I' in the
word Give" The tail of the letter
'sF" in the sentence ''For the Gov.
ernor and Company" is also left in
an incomplete state.
The ink with which bank notes
are printed is made of charred
husks and stems of Rhenish vines,
and the recipe, like the manufac-
ture of the paper, is carefully
guarded secret.
Each bank note costs about a
halfpenny to produce and on an av-
erage is in circulation about seventy
days. After being paid the notes
are stored by the bank for five years
at the end of which time they are
destroyed by burning in large fur
mace. Eighteen millions of money
thus disappear in the course of ev-
cry year.
Once a note is returned to the
bank it is never reissued, and after
being cancelled by having the sig
nature of the chief cashier torn off
it is placed in what is known as the
bank note library for purposes OF
reference. There are no fewer than
1870 clerks in this department, and
so perfect is their system of filing
that any one of the 77,745,0OO
notes which form the usual stock
on hand can be reached in five min
utes.
Altogether the Bank of England
has some ELS, 100000 worth of notes
in circulation and issues between
| $4,000 and 10000 notes OF various
denomination each day. There are
seventy or eighty kinds of Bank of
England notes of different values.
Every year about 5000 of the notes
issued are lost or destroyed by the
owners. At any rate, they are new
er returned to the bank and repre-
]Nsent clear profit. While it is true,
however, that if note never comes
back the bank profits to that
amount, they never can tell when
these so called missing notes may
be presented.
Some people possess a weakness
for boarding bank notes, and the re-
suit has been that frequently the
bank IS called upon to cash dirty,
crumpled notes which were issued
| vears aoo-T,OndOn Tit-Bits