The note that I have decided to base my presentation on is the 1937 $10 note issued by the Bank of Canada. I am from Canada and thought it would be neat to look into some of the great notes that we have here in the north. Here is a picture of the note. This note was the first bilingual Canadian note and was engraved by the British American Bank Note Company Limited. The engravers for this note were Robert Savage (obverse), H.P. Dawson (reverse), George Gundersen (reverse). The obverse of the note shows King George VI wearing his medals. The reverse shows a transportation allegory with a Mercury in the foreground and ships, trains, and planes in the background. This vignette was redone by George Gundersen by reworking the Mercury and also adding planes to the engraving. Below is the original done by H.P. Dawson: George Arthur Gundersen was born in Ottawa in 1910, and continued to live there until his death on April 18, 1975 at the age of 65. At the age of 19, he was a cartoonist for the Toronto Star Syndicate in the United States and Canada. His education included attending the University of Ottawa as well as Ontario College of Art in Toronto. From there he attended the Art Students League in Woodstock, N.Y., and then the Académie Julienne, Paris. Paper reflectivity and colour technique were studied at the Lithographic Technical Foundation in Chicago with gravure printing at Joh. Enschedé, Haarlem, Holland and security intaglio printing at the Bank of Austria. He began his career at the British American Bank Note Company in 1927 as an apprentice engraver, in 1930 he became an engraver and in 1953 the Art Director, maintaining this position until his retirement on March 31, 1975.From 1948-1950 he did an exchange at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington D.C. While here he engraved 11 American stamps, including one celebrating U.S.-Canadian friendship, which was issued in 1948 shown below: He did over 1400 engravings throughout his career including Banknotes, Postage Stamps, and other works of art. He also designed several corporate symbols, including many for the University of Ottawa, the Bank of British Columbia, and other firms in Canada and the United States. George Gundersen was the first Canadian to engrave U.S. stamps along with engraving stamps for many other countries such as Bolivia, Honduras, and Iran. His career took a big hit when he made the ‘devils head’ engraving in the Queens Hair in 1954 which later needed to be modified by Yves Baril (See SEG presentation #8 by urbanchemist). Mr. Gundersen designed the Jacques Cartier stamp that was issued in 1934, which was based on a design already used on bank notes. This was selected as best design of the year by Gibbons Stamp Monthly.
Steve, Great presentation - Thanks for sharing you research! Have to wonder how much grief he took for the Devils Hair. He wasn't demoted but I would think he lost favor. Interesting! Darryl
Very nicely done. Interesting information. I really like the note you chose. The Cartier stamp is terrific too.
Very nice presentation. Mr. Grundersen was a busy man over 1400 engravings. He didn't have much time to enjoy his retirement. Retired March 31, 1975, died April 18, 1975. Lou
Great presentation, the amount of engravings & stamps/currency is amazing in one man's career. The Mercury Vignette he worked is a masterpiece ,the stamp engravings are art work alone. very interesting and informative presentation,job well done !
Thanks all, this man was certainly interesting. Very busy life with all the engravings and a really short retirement, guess he liked work a lot and couldnt live without it. I had lots of fun researching this and learned a lot. Now to pick out what I shall do for next year hehe.
LOL - You don't realize how much work it is to do one until you do it. Doesn't diminish how interesting it is to do it or how much you learn in the process. These are only going to get better as we learn how to gather the information in the most effective manner. I agree though, what do I do next...
Steve... congrats on job very well done. I really enjoyed the read and the works of this World Class Engraver. The Photo Shop work is nice as well and I can see you put in quite a bit of effort. 10 :thumb: up on a super nice Presentation. RickieB
Great job! Even though the devils head incident gave his career a hit, I think it gave his notariety and fame a boost. The friendship stamp is cool as well. I wonder if the train is go to, or coming from, Canada? more info http://collectionscanada.gc.ca/pam_...urces_3=genapp&Sources_4=web&soundex=&cainInd=)
