occurred in the interval between two epochs,
—just to measure the progress which Society
has made, and to walk step by step with that
singular lady. Now a bank-note will serve as
well as anything else as an excuse for so
doing. Six years ago, Household Words*
told all about the production of those
momentous documents: how they were made,
where, by whom, how often, in what
quantities, how long they lived, and what became
of them after death; and in two other
numbers of the same volume,†  the romance
of bank-note forgery was touched upon. But
the bank-note has since undergone a marked
regeneration, which it behoves us to understand.

Very soon after the publication of the
articles just referred to, Mr. Smee, Surgeon
to the Bank of England, made a report to the
directors, in which he suggested that the
time had arrived for adopting the method of
printing bank-notes in letter-press fashion, as
a substitute for the older plan of copper or
steel-plate printing. He based his argument
on the assumption that the first-named plan
admits of greater rapidity of printing, and more
perfect identity in the notes produced. The
directors refused to have the general design
of the note changed in any material degree;
but with this restriction they assented to an
extensive and costly series of experiments,
intended to test the applicability of surface-
printing to these most precious bits of paper.
Mr. Hensman and Mr. Coe, the engineer and
the superintendent of printing-machines at
the Bank, associated themselves with Mr.
Smee in this inquiry; and the triumvirate
devoted, not merely months, but years, to
the investigation of the whole subject. Here
and there and everywhere were new inventions
and improvements sought; engravers,
and paper-makers, and ink-makers, and press-
makers, were all brought into requisition to
make such changes as the change in the
style of printing called for; and, at length,
on the first of January, eighteen hundred and
fifty-five, the new Bank of England notes
made their first bow in the commercial
world.

If the reader will refresh his memory
concerning the old processes, as described in the
article lately adverted to, he will the better
be able to understand the changes which
have been wrought.

As to the design, it would have been
possible, retaining the old pattern, to have
engraved it on a copper or steel plate with
the device raised instead of sunken; but Mr.
Smee, in a paper which he read before the
Society of Arts, stated that such a plan
would not be practicably effective. In plate-
printing, the paper is pressed into the
hollows forming the device; but if the device
were in raised lines, the plate-press would
squeeze the paper over and around the lines,
and the ink would spread. If, therefore, the
directors insisted on the character of the old
design being retained, new artistic and
mechanical means became necessary.
Comparing a note of the present time with a note
two or three years old, it will be seen that
the general tone of the design is the same;
the Britannia is a little more artistic, but the
letters, figures, and flourishes present the
same family likeness. In this matter the
Bank Directors have remained immoveable.
Yet there are not wanting many experienced
men who insist strongly on the advantages of
a more ornate design. Mr. Henry Bradbury, in
a paper recently read before the Royal
Institution, contends that the vignette ought to be
more sedulously attended to. "The higher
the quality of the artistic impress in the
vignette, the purer and severer the tone
conferred upon its execution, the greater the
security of the note. The vignette might be
imitated, but its individuality could not. A
picture always conveys the style of the artist,
exhibiting an individuality of character which
no copy can possess. Rival engravers might
produce works of similar beauty and general
effect, but the differences of manner would be
obvious to the commonest observer; and not
only would the forgery be discovered, but the
hand that had executed it would be
discovered." Mr. Bradbury advocates the
combination of high artistic excellence in the
vignette, with elaborate guilloche or rose-
argive work in other parts of the design; he
also considers roller-printing to present
many advantages over surface-printing for
bank-notes; and an art-manufacturer who
has produced such beautiful results as the
nature-printed plates of ferns and weeds,
deserves to be heard on these points. It must,
however, be observed that forgers have
hitherto imitated the most elaborate engraving
sufficiently well to deceive the public. The
parti-coloured notes invented by Sir William
Congreve, and the intricate beauties of
Messrs. Perkins' and Heath's notes have
been successfully simulated; because, ninety-
nine recipients of bank-notes out of a hundred
not being judges of artistic effect, and having
no discrimination whatever for the different
styles of different artists, are thoroughly
deceived by the same general appearance in a
forged note that they have been familiar with
in a real note, and take even imperfect imitations
of it quite as readily. Long familiarity
with one form of inscription and one style of
ornament is the best preventive against
forgery. We therefore incline to the view of
the Bank directors, that it is change of style
and manner which is more to be dreaded
than mediocrity of execution.

The design of the existing Bank of
England note was made up and engraved on
many small pieces of copper, and brass, and
steel, according to the quality and minuteness
of the engraving; the lines of the device

* Vol. I. p. 426, Review of a Popular Publication.
† Pages 555, 615.