The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1914-02-12
HISTORIC NOTES.
Curious Bits of Paper Preserved by
Bank of England.

If the bank notes which have been
issued by the "Old Lady of Thread
needle Street. had been gifted with
the power of speech, with what in
Vulnerable tales of romance, tragedy
and adventure they could have en-
riched the world! says London Tit
bits. For instance, there lis pre-
served in the Bank of England
library a five-pound note with these
words written upon it: IF this note
gets into the hands of John Dear of
Longhill, near Carlisle, his brother
Andrew is a prisoner in Algiers.
This notification was copied into a
Carlisle newspaper and John Dear
thus became aware of the where
abouts of his long-lost brother.
Among other curiosities in the
bank library there is bank note,
dated 10th Xber,, 1699,' for $50
pounds. This is the oldest bank note
known to be in existence. In ap-
pearance and design it is very SINH
lar to the present day notes.
Another interesting note is one for
1000 pounds which Lord Cochran
paid as fine, imposed upon him for
his enormously supposed connection
with fraud for raising public funds.
1t is endorsed with these words:
My health having suffered by long
and close confinement, and my op-
pressors having resolved to deprive
me of property and life, I submit
to robbery to protect myself from
murder, in the hope that l shall
live to bring the delinquents to JUS
tice. .-Cochrane, Grated Chamber,
Kings Bench Prison, July, 1915"
One of the most unique notes in
the bank collection is one for 25
pounds which was presented and
honored Ill years after it had been
| issued.
The greatest amount for which a
Bank of England note has been is
sued is 100000 pounds. There are
only four of these million-pound
notes in existence. One is preserv-
ed in the library of the bank, anoth-
er is in the possession of the Roths-
child family, a third is owned by
Messrs. Coutts, the famous bankers,
and the fourth is in the hands of
| the descendants of Samuel Rogers,
the poet
In the production of their notes the
| Bank of England authorities first
aim is to issue a note which is i'm
possible for anybody to counterfeit.
Toward the end, all the parts of the
note-the paper, the watermark, the
ink, the engraving, the printing
are prepared and done in a special,
and as far as possible, secret man
ner. At the mills where the paper
is manufactured the most stringent
precautions are taken to prevent any
of the paper being stolen. Of course.
there have been many attempted rob-
berries, but only once, in the year
1852, were thieves successful in OBJ
tanning any of the paper. Very
shortly afterward forged notes were
in circulation, The thieves did not
enjoy their. triumph long, for with
in a short time they were captured.
The printing is done on the bank
premises. The notes are printed in
pairs and come off the machine press
ed and dried.
Stock notes of different values
from pounds to 1000 pounds, are
kept in iron safes in one large room,
and the average value of the stock
| is between eighty and ninety mil
lion pounds. Over $4,000 notes of
various values are paid into the
bank every day. On their return the
notes are sorted, first into their
respective values, then according to
their dates, and finally into their
numerical order. Every note has a
place of it's own in the bank regis
ters and Immediately the notes are
sorted their return is registered.
A special staff of examining clerks
devote their attention to detecting
| forgeries. Of late years there have
not been many cases of forged notes,
but during the eighteenth and early
part of the nineteenth centuries the
bank suffered severe losses from
counterfeit notes. The story of the
first recorded forgery forms a unique
chapter in the book of romance
A certain linen-draper named
Vaughn, was passionately in love
with a fair maiden whose father was
man of considerable wealth. The
| love-sick swain knew that the quick
est way to win the girl was to give
como nrOOf that he was a man of