The Bank Act of 1844 confirmed the alterations of 1826 and 1833, and, in addition, made great alterations in connection with the currency. The Issue Department of the Bank of England was to be kept entirely distinct from the Banking Department. Notes, to the extent of £14,000,000, might be issued against the debt owing by the Government to the Bank and against other securities, but coin and bullion must be deposited in the Issue Department against every note issued in excess of that sum. Notes issued by the Bank of England are, therefore, secured principally by specie, and by the Government debt, which amounts (1902) to £11,015,100; and as every note is a warrant entitling the holder to gold on demand, a Bank of England note is really and truly equivalent to gold. However, under certain possible, if improbable, conditions, the Bank could not fulfil its obligations or promises to pay cash on presentation, for if all its notes in circulation were presented simultaneously there would not be sufficient coin in the Issue Department to meet them; but that is a most unlikely contingency. Further, these notes are "legal tender" in England. In other words, a debtor can compel his creditor to accept them in discharge of his debt; but nobody is obliged to give out change should the value of the notes tendered exceed the amount of the sum owing. In Scotland and Ireland Bank of England notes are "current" but not "legal" tender. Neither are they by the Bank itself, nor by any of its branches, and sovereigns, though not half-sovereigns or silver, may be demanded in exchange. All notes are convertible at the London Office of the Bank, whose branches, however, are only responsible for those notes issued therefrom. The Bank still retains the monopoly of issuing notes in London and at a distance not greater than sixty-five miles from the Metropolis. No new bank of issue may be formed; and as the private bankers in London had ceased circulating their notes prior to 1844, the Act practically gave the Bank the monopoly of note issue within the prescribed area. This monopoly alone is of great value; but when we remember that its notes are legal tender in England as well, it is evident that the Bank of England still enjoys a most important concession. The private bankers of London, and the joint stock banks in London and within sixty-five miles of it, were debarred by the Act of 1844 from issuing notes. Of course the private bankers who still issued notes within the prescribed space retained their privilege, but they were no longer able to circulate as many as they could persuade the public to accept.