IMPROVEMENTS IN BANKERS' CHEQUES, BILLS, AND PROMISSORY NOTES, AND MONEY ORDERS GENERALLY."
Year: 1880

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by David Harry Shuttleworth Brown
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 26th February 1880.
DAVID HARRY SHUTTLEWORTH BROWN, of Gracechurch Street, in the City of
London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN BANKERS' CHEQUES, BILLS, AND PROMISSORY NOTES,
AND MONEY ORDERS GENERALLY."
The object of this Invention is to prevent fraud through the alteration of the
amounts written on cheques, bills, and promissory notes, and money orders
generally.
To this end in manufacturing cheques I print upon, by preference, thin paper the
address and name of the bank, and the words "pay to" "or order" as usual.
Instead however of or in addition to leaving the space for writing in the amount
of the cheque in words I print on that part of the cheque in a column roman or
other numerical signs representing tens of thousands, thousands, hundreds, tens, and
units, and against each of these signs I place a row of arabic figures, commencing 0,
9, 8, down to 1.
I then perforate a circle either around or upon each arabic figure, so that any
figure may be readily obliterated by pushing it out from the cheque.
When it is desired to use this form of cheque the person signing must
commence to sign his name on the highest figure of the amount for which the
cheque is to be drawn, thus if the sum be £256. 10. 6, the signature must
be commenced at figure 2 on the line representing "hundreds." He will then
obliterate the figures 5 and 6 on the lines of tens and units respectively by
pushing out these figures, and will write in the total amount in the usual way in a
space prepared for the purpose.
As it is well known that forgers rarely if ever tamper with the signature on a
chequo, it will be seen that by adopting the above plan a cheque drawn for a small
sum cannot be altered to represent a larger amount, as the position of the signature
will show at a glance the highest figure of the sum drawn for. Instead of perforating
the arabic figures on the cheque, as above described, I may in addition to these
signs and figures print on the left hand end of the cheque or bill the numerical signs
in a line, and arrange the arabic figures in columns underneath the several signs,
perforating these figures so that they may be obliterated as before described. At the
bottom of the columns of figures I may leave a space for the amount to be inserted

page_text: in figures, or I may represent on the cheque a series of dials corresponding in
number to the numerical signs required, and with the arabic figures arranged
around the dials and perforated. Opposite these dials may be spaces for the
signature.
In this form should the amount to be drawn be, say £100, the signature will be
written in the space opposite the “hundreds" dial, and the figure "(1)" will be
obliterated, as well as the ciphers on the tens and units dials, the amount being
written on the cheque in addition. In all these plans I prefer to place the counter-
foil on the right hand end of the cheque, so that the cheque may be more readily
held for obliterating the figures.
This principle above indicated may be applied under various modifications to
suit particular circumstances; thus, the form of the promissory note, for example, as
it necessarily differs materially from a cheque or bankers' bill, will require a
different distribution of the numerals and figures, but in other respects the
description above given will apply to such documents.
The paper which I prefer to employ will be of light weight, of poor quality with
short fibro, but highly bleached and calendered.