Depoliticisation, technical discourse, and paper-money: a case study in the bank restriction period

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article looks at the controversy which emerged between the Bank of England and a number of external actors over various proposals to modify the printing of the Bank’s paper-money during the Bank restriction period of 1797–1821. As a result of this controversy, the debate over the best method to prevent the forgery of the Bank’s paper-money became increasingly technical and specialised over the Restriction period. I argue that, as a result of the growing technical nature of the controversy that emerged, the problem of the forgery of the Bank’s paper-money became depoliticised – separated from the controversial political and social context that attended the widespread introduction of paper-money in early nineteenth-century British society.