Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1908-01-09

His name was also passed into the
dictionary Of English slang, which gives
ITO Sham Abraham" as a synonym for
the forgery of Bank of England notes.
There have been many forserles Of its
notes. In 1853 the bank lost sl,Go9cpo IS
thu forgeries of Robert Aslett and IN
1877 it lost sl,s00,o"o by the forgeries VI
man named Fauutleroy. The most re-
cent forgeries of any amount occurred n
1866. when a gang of cousprators went
10 the trouble Of manufd curing paper
exactly like that used for the genuine
notes and succeeded in circulating ab,u
s6oo,oD0 before they We're detected. Five
of the consprators were sent TO the PEN
itentiary for long terms.
Bank of England notes are printed
within the walls of the building by ma
chinery invented and patented by en-
ployes in charge of that department
named Oldham. father and SON About
5000 new notes are printed daily upon
plain white paper, with the lettering m
old German script, and they are secure
by coin and bullion. The present cir ~
lation outstanding Is about G4s0I.oo 0 Or
$24o 10000 The smallest denomination :
Is. although 81 notes were formerly is
sued The largest denominations now -
sued are $500 and El0,Ur. but notes
high as $4,000 and GlN,oOo have been is
sued for particular purposes, and at one
time a note for El,ooo,oo0, or 100000. WaS
issued 1t now hangs in frame on
the wall Of the reception room in The d.
partment OF issue
No note is ever issued the second timA
When it comes back to the bank in the
process Of business 1t is Cancelled. At tie
close of each day every piece of currency
that has been received Is sent 10 1.-The
old note office" where the bills are cu
in halves by a machine; the two halN
are wrapped and sealed, with the date
upon them and are stored IN the vaults
for a period of one year, in case tleY
may be required as evidence in a court
OF law on the last Saturday of every
month the notes received during the cor
responding month 10 years previous are
burned.
The transactions of the bank amount
to about $1,000, GN n FAY All balances at
the clearing house are settled by checks
on the Bank of England which are 'n-
cluded in that amount as well as the Or
binary transactions.
The Bank of England is required by
law to purchase all gold coin offered for
sale at a fixed rate OF pounds shillinSs
and pence per ounce, and coin is ac-
cepted by weight only instead of by nor
NAL value. In the weighing office are six
curious machines, which detect light
weight coins automatically The CONS
are shoveled into a funnel and pass, one
by enc through tube over very deli
cate series of bars. which drop at GER
tain weight and are thus distributed III
separate compartments according to their
actual weight. Each machine handles
about &, 900 coins day.
The bank building covers four acres.
The architecture is very severe and IL
reproduction OF the Temple to the Sbyl
at Tivoi, near Rome. There are no win
dows in the outside walls All Of the
principal rooms are copies OF famous
architecture. The cashiers office is re-
production Of the Temple of the Sun at
Rome The governors ONCE Is copied
from Hadrian's villa.
The bank has its own water works.
supplied by an artesian well $50 feet deep,
The water, which Is particularly pure, IS
| pumped to tanks at the top OF the build
| ing and distributed through pipes