Banknote

This sample one pound red and black banknote marked 'Commercial Bank One' was printed on a compound printing press developed by Sir William Congreve. From 1821 the printing plates for printing such bank notes were engraved on a rose lathe designed by the engineer Bryan Donkin whose company was based in Bermondsey. The combination of elaborate geometric patterns and colour differentiation offered by Donkin's rose lathe made the plates practically unforgeable. The patterns could be reproduced only by the person possessing the machine that first generated them. This method of printing bank notes was used for over a century.