Page:Once a Week June to Dec 1863.pdf/395

26, 1863.]   bank. A gang is formed, and one of them is chosen as head. This captain gives the order for a number of five-pound notes; and the order will probably have to go through two or three people’s hands before it gets to the original engraver. The members of the gang never know, and the head seldom knows, who engraved the notes. An engraver of false notes will sometimes accumulate stock, in which case he looks out for a magsman in whom he can place confidence. He lets the magsman have the forged notes cheap, and he gets up his gang and gets to work. The forged-note market varies, as all other markets do; a forged Bank of England ten-pound note fetches thirty shillings; a provincial ten-pound note is worth no more than twenty or twenty-five shillings. A forged five-pound note generally sells for about thirteen shillings. Bank of England notes are preferred, as they can be passed almost anywhere. Forged notes for a large amount are seldom turned out, and are always passed off in foreign countries. A gang of magsmen about to pass a quantity of five-pound provincial notes numbers at least twenty men. They work in pairs, and one or two generally keep watch over the whole gang, so that if any of the men get into trouble the rest may be informed, and leave the town immediately. They spread themselves over the whole town, and all begin to work at the same hour. One of the pair remains outside the shop into which his pal  