Watermark patentIn 1819, a triple paper was patented in Britain by Sir William Congreve that could incorporate a colored watermark, visible when the paper was held up to the light, to make currency harder to counterfeit. His invention was to overlay a very thin couched sheet of white paper on each side of a layer of colored pulp containing a design, which would then be pressed together and dried. He made a proposal to the Commission of the Bank of England on 30 Oct 1818, but his process was not adopted due to resistance from the Portals firm which had manufactured the Bank of England's currency paper since 1725. Congreve is best known for his invention of military rockets, first used militarily, against the French, on 8 Oct 1806.« |
