FIRST BANKNOTE

Greymouth Evening Star, 19 December 1934, Page 12

FIRST BANKNOTE

PRISON FOR “INNOCENT HOBBY”. LONDON, October 19. Leonard Henry Gaul, 24, seaman, pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey yesterday to engraving words and letters on a copper plate resembling those on a 10/- Bank of England note, without lawful authority, and possessing sixteen pieces of paper on which were words peculiar to those used in Bank of England notes. Mr Christmas Humphreys, prosecuting, said the police found at Gaul’s home at Deptford, a very thorough plant, and a 10/- note which had been split so that the back and front were separate. The Common Serjeant. (Mr Cecil Whiteley, K.C.) recalled that he prosecuted in the first case of a forged Treasury note during the war, and; i referring to the split 10/- note, said “It is amazing how it is done.” Mr Graham Brooks, for Gaul, said even when he was at school he was of an experimental turn of mind and very interested in engraving. “Ho bought one of those American magazines and read about counterfeiters in America and their making dollar bills, and thought that he would try to do it. He did it with no felonious intent,” Mr Brooks added. The Common Serjeant (to Gaul): If it were merely an innocent hobby I cannot understand why you have pleaded guilty. It is impossible to accept that explanation, having regard to your plea. You will go to penal servitude for three years.