Perkins Bacon facts for kids
Perkins, Bacon & Co was a famous printing company. They printed books, money (called bank notes), and especially postage stamps. They are most famous for printing the Penny Black in 1840, which was the world's first sticky postage stamp!
Quick facts for kids Details on the mode of preventing the forgery of bank notes |
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| Back in the 1800s, it was easy to make fake money in England. Even people with little skill could do it! The government made it a serious crime, but it didn't stop the forgers. So, England's Royal Society started looking for solutions. They really liked the special money made by an American inventor named Jacob Perkins.
Jacob Perkins invented a new way to make printing plates from soft steel. After they were engraved with designs, these plates could be made very hard. This made them last much longer and produce clearer prints. He also invented a special roller for printing and created plates that could print many copies at once. An English engraver, Charles Heath, invited Jacob Perkins to come to England. England was offering a huge prize of £20,000 to anyone who could create money that was impossible to fake. Perkins came to London, hoping to win this prize. He showed off his amazing machines and sample money. His methods were so good that they could print money of much higher quality and at a much lower cost than before. |
How it All Started
Jacob Perkins was an inventor from Boston, Massachusetts, USA. He came up with a clever way to make printing plates. He used "soft steel" plates that could be easily engraved with designs. After the designs were finished, he had a special method to make these plates very hard. This made them last a long time and print many copies without wearing out.
Perkins and another engraver, Gideon Fairman, first used these steel plates to print books in the USA. They also printed money for Massachusetts and even won a contract to print money for the new USA National Bank.
Charles Heath, a well-known engraver in England, heard about Perkins' amazing work. He thought Perkins' money was the best in the world and convinced him to come to London. Perkins arrived in 1819 with Gideon Fairman and another associate, Asa Spencer. They set up their printing shop, hoping to win the big contract to print money for the Bank of England.
After a few months, Perkins and Fairman joined forces with Charles Heath. They moved their shop to 69 Fleet Street in London. This new partnership was called "Perkins, Fairman, and Heath." They started printing books, money for English banks, and even the world's first sticky postage stamps!
Important Dates
- 1808-1810: Jacob Perkins and Gideon Fairman create the first books in the US using steel plates.
- Around 1816: Jacob Perkins develops his "soft steel" plates and a way to harden them.
- 1818 (April 15): Charles Heath talks about Perkins' American money at a meeting about preventing fake money.
- 1819 (May 31): Perkins sails to England after talking with Charles Heath.
- 1819 (June 29): Perkins arrives in Liverpool, England.
- 1819 (December 20): The Heaths join Perkins and Fairman to form Perkins, Fairman and Heath.
- 1820 (February): The Bank of England chooses a different solution for their main money. However, Perkins' company still gets other jobs, like printing £1 notes and stamps.
- 1820 (Summer): Perkins Fairman and Heath move to 69 Fleet Street, London.
- 1822: The company becomes known as Perkins and Heath.
- 1829: The company changes again to Perkins and Bacon. This happened when Joshua Butters Bacon, who was Perkins' son-in-law, bought Charles Heath's share.
- 1834-1852: The company is called Perkins, Bacon & Petch after Henry Petch, an engraver, becomes a partner.
- 1839: Perkins Bacon and Co is asked to make the plates and dies for the new postage stamps. The Penny Black was their very first stamp!
The company's name changed a few times as partners joined or left. Even though the partners, especially Charles Heath and Jacob Perkins, were very talented, they sometimes had money problems. Luckily, they kept very good records of everything!
Company History
England was offering a big prize of £20,000 for a type of money that could not be faked. Charles Heath invited Jacob Perkins to come to England, and Perkins arrived in 1819. They showed their sample money to Sir Joseph Banks, who was in charge of a group looking into the problem of fake money. It seemed like they might win the prize, but they didn't.
Even though they didn't win the big prize, Perkins' company still got smaller jobs. They printed £1 notes for other banks and later won more government contracts. In the meantime, they also started publishing books.
The company went through several name changes. By 1822, it was known as "Perkins & Heath." Then, in 1829, after Charles Heath left and Perkins' son-in-law, Joshua Butters Bacon, joined, it became "Perkins & Bacon." In 1835, Henry Petch joined, and the company that printed the first stamps was actually called "Perkins, Bacon & Petch." The original plates used to print the Penny Black stamps are now on display at the British Library. When Petch passed away in 1852, the company simply became "Perkins, Bacon."
In 1861, the company temporarily lost its contract to print stamps. This happened because they gave away copies of new stamps to friends without getting permission from the government. This was against the rules for printing official items like money or stamps.
Perkins, Bacon & Co finished their contract for printing line-engraved stamps on December 31, 1879. After that, another company called De La Rue took over the stamp printing business.
Besides printing stamps for Britain, Perkins, Bacon also printed the first stamps for many British colonies, including the Cape of Good Hope in 1853.
In 1935, the company closed down. Its important records were bought by Charles and Harry Nissen and Thomas Allen. Later, these records were given to the Royal Philatelic Society London, where they were organized for display and study.
Images for kids
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A Penny Black, with a red cancellation that was hard to see and easily removed
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Collage for banknote design, Bank of Manchester (England), 1833, sent to Perkins & Bacon. On display at the British Museum in London
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Stanley Gibbons colour guide stamps printed by Perkins Bacon
