DIRTY BANK NOTES

Hokitika Guardian, 15 May 1917, Page 3

DIRTY BANK NOTES

Over 200,000 separate bank notea are burned every week by the Commonwealth Treasury officials. This statement has been made by Mr Collinß, secretary to the Australian Treasury, when referring to. a statement regarding the numbers of dirty notes in circulation. The netes having been cancelled are burned in a special furnace, fitted with a wire grid. This prevents pieces of charred notea flattering through the chimney and being subsequently produced for payment—as happened some years ago when the postal offieials in Melbourne were burning certain Bbeets of stamps.

Mr Collins. stated that more would be done in the direction of burning old nates, but that daring this time of war difficulty was experienced in getting snfficieLt paper supplies. Wheu the war was over and the normal supplies of paper were available, ha had reason to believe that the Treasurer would agree to supply the banks with notes so that they as well as the Treasury would not than such a sample would tell a raerreissue notes. At the present time they had in stock sufficient paper to last for 12 months. They had given orders for another twelve months’ supply, but the paper was slow in coming forward. THfe question of washing the notes had been considered by the Treasury, but the authorities had come to the conclusion that the procedure was not desirable, on the ground that to wash and reissue would be more expensive than to print new notes, Washing also took some of the ink out, and might make it difficult to detect forgeries.