How Business Is Done At The Bank Of England
A reeent English paper cont.aíns some interesling facts ruspectiug the Bank of England. The paper on wbieh the notes are printed is all made from the best rags by a single firrn. It ia made in sheets, sixteen inches long by five inches wide, on each of wbioh two notos are to be printed. The sheets are Cheo cut in two, when each noto has three rough edgcs and one smooth one. The peculiar qnality ot the paper has been found to be the best protectiou against counterfeitiug. The engraving of the notes has been imitated, but the paper cever. Even the paper that was stolen a few months ago, had to be sized by the thieves, and tbs work was so badly doDe, that the counterfeits were distiu cuished from the genutne bv the defect alone. A quantity of paper, enough for making about 900,000 notes, is forwarded to London once a month ; it is delivered to the bank note paper office, where it is counted, and then handed to the priuling office. After passing through a machine, which prints ail but the numbers, dates and signaturas, it is returned to the pi;por office; in this transition state it is kept in store. As notes are required, it is again passed through a machine for completiou. Each sheet is then out in half, making two notes; the notes are counted, and care fully examined by easbiers, whose duty it is to reject those which are indistinetly printed, or are imperfect ; they are then tied up in bundies of 100 notes each, and tire of these bundies in one, makiug a largo bundie of 500 note. The average daily manufacture is about 37,000 notes, or 74 bundies of 500 notes; each bundle weighing one and a half pounds. The number of notes made in a year wil! beover eleven and a half millions, the paper weighing more than 15 tons. Books are priuted at the bank, with a record of every note iasued. Evey note presented at the bank for payraent is marked off these ledgers on the day following, the date of payment being stamped on the note and iu the ledger. Should a forged noto be passed, it would be detected next day in posting the ledger. About 37,000 notes are presented daily for payment. They are canceled by tearing off the signature and puncbiug, and then laid away iu boxes to be kept ten years. If relerence to any one of these notes is required, by furnishing the number, date and amount, it can be produced in ten minutes. Once a month the notes which have completed their ten years of rest are taken out and burnt. Bank notes are subject to many jnishap, but the bank will redeeui them, provide they remain so nearly legible that it is possible to idenlify them. Wben a note is irrecoveiably lost, the usual practice is - if the note bo under one hundred pounds - to make the loser wait five years, after which time applioa tion for paytnent will bo entertained But, with notes oí one hundred pouuds and upwards. a sum equal to the atnount lost is iovested in consols, in the name of the Governor and Company of the Bank of England, for twenty years. During this time, the dividi-nds, as they aocruc, aro paid to the loses und, at the end of the term, the stook is trausferred into bis name.
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Old News
Michigan Argus