Perkins, Jacob

Perkins, Jacob

(born July 9, 1766, Newburyport, Mass., U.S.—died July 30, 1849, London, Eng.) U.S. inventor. He built a machine to cut and head nails in one operation c. 1790. He developed a method of engraving paper money that made counterfeiting difficult; lack of interest in the U.S. led him to set up a bank-note factory in England (1819). He experimented with high-pressure steam boilers, built a horizontal steam engine (1827), designed an improved paddle wheel (1829), and invented a means for the free circulation of water in boilers (1831) that led to the design of modern water-tube boilers.

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Perkins, Jacob (1766–1849) inventor; born in Newburyport, Mass. An apprentice goldsmith, he developed steel plates as a replacement for copper in the bank note engraving process, the use of which made counterfeiting more difficult. Perkins and his partner moved to England (1818) where they established the engraving factory that produced the first penny postage stamps (1840). Perkins also experimented with high-pressure steam boilers and invented an early form of water tube boiler.