Thread: Security Engravers Presentation for January 13th 2010

1918 $2 Federal Reserve Bank Note: "The Battleship Note"

The trend in the presentations has been towards more research by individuals. While these presentations are certainly interesting with an impressive amount of work going into each of them, the purpose behind them is what I believe these presentations are about. By that, I mean that these presentations are meant to introduce members of the forum to the many different vignettes and the many different aspects that come together to make a vignette such as artists, engravers, or printers. However, even this definition does not get to the true spirit of the presentations. That lies in the simple fact that what we are presenting are the things that we enjoy and have an interest in with the goal of sharing that with the other members of the group and forum. With that said, my presentation does not have a lot of independent research, I only wish to share this note with our members and how I came to love it’s look so much.

When I first found out about this note, I was actually at a coin auction. I had picked up a copy of Coins magazine and was flipping through the articles while waiting for the next lot I was interested in to come up. In this August edition, Fred Reed had an article about the portraits of Thomas Jefferson that have appeared on paper currency. I glanced through the article and my eyes quickly caught the word “Battleship.” As a history student who especially enjoys military history, my attention was drawn to this. I was only familiar at this point with regular circulating currency and a few older notes: I had no idea that such a note existed. Quickly flipping to the back of the magazine to the price section, I found a small black and white picture of the note. Even with that unflattering picture, I was drawn to this note.

The note itself features Charles Kennedy Burt’s portrait of Jefferson on the obverse with both federal signatures, either Teehee-Burke or Elliott-Burke, and the signatures from the banks. However, the reverse is what grabbed my attention. Centered on the reverse is a Dreadnaught, New York class, steaming from left to right. While the small picture I first of this does not do it justice, seeing a large color version of this vignette is amazing. It was engraved by Charles M. Chalmers who worked at the BEP and then moved to the American Banknote Company in 1922.[i] During this time he did some work on stamps and stock certificates, but it appears that his only credit on banknotes was this vignette (however, it appears that much of his work was on lettering or frames so it is entirely possible that is work does appear on other notes.) This particular engraving is said to be of the actual battleship New York although the name does not appear on the ship. One of the great things about this engraving is the detail on the ship. You can see the lifeboats, the tarps tying things down, and even some sailors on deck. These little details all add up to make the vignette once of the most amazing I have seen.

There is one final item that I would like to share with regards to this note. Being a historian, I am always curious why something comes about the way it did. This note is a bit of a conundrum when it comes to that. Considering that these notes were authorized in 1915 and the $2 note was printed in 1918, it stands to reason that the reason for choosing this note was because of World War I, which the U.S. was now participating in. However, the naval aspect of World War I had already been decided prior to the U.S. entering the war with only the question of German submarines remaining so a battleship does not bring to mind what was going on in the war. That aside, it could still represent the military power of America. This seems difficult to believe as well since we had Woodrow Wilson as president at the time who had been pressing for a long term peaceful solution that the government would also want to show off its military power. Doing a quick bit of research on this, I came across an article by Fred Reed who puts forth the idea that this was tied into Theodore Roosevelt and the White Navy that he sent sailing around the world to show U.S. naval power.[ii] While Roosevelt certainly had a large popular following and had been Secretary of the Navy as well as a well regarded historian of naval history, it seems like an unlikely time to honor him by putting a vessel on the note. I cannot find any sources besides this article to back this story, so if anybody has more information on this, it would be appreciated if you would share it.

In the end, I find this note to be an amazing piece of currency which I hope to add to my collection one day. The engraving itself is so fine in detail and the subject brings up so many different ideas from military history that it makes me remember why I decided to start collecting paper money. I hope you enjoyed reading about why I like this note so much. I encourage you to comment, especially if you can provide more information on the note, engraver, or helping to solve the problem of its history at the end.

[i] The Engravers Line by Gene Hessler

[ii] http://www.numismaster.com/ta/numis/...ArticleId=7065






Image from Usrarecurrency.com: http://www.usrarecurrency.com/1918$2FRBNBattleShipFR252PMGCU63EPQSnB14989473A.ht m

Very enjoyable read and a beautiful note on both sides. nice job in your presentation and how your intrest in paper money began.
Ihave the BEP Souveneir card & shot this to show the details of the Battleship you have described.

Well it certainly has my eyes turning.. now.. WTH is a vignette? and BE NICE. I do NOT collect paper but I find it interesting and its an honest question


I know I am going to get flamed on this one, I can feel it coming.

A "vignette" is a engraving on a Banknote,stock ,certificate, a Military Payment Certificate, Their may more then one vignette on a banknote .Here is an example :

Originally Posted by Jim M

Well it certainly has my eyes turning.. now.. WTH is a vignette? and BE NICE. I do NOT collect paper but I find it interesting and its an honest question


I know I am going to get flamed on this one, I can feel it coming.

No flaming here Jim! Do you need any further help? We often admire a complete note but many notes are made up of multiple pieces of art put together to create the one image. Many notes are created by multiple artist/engravers. The numbers can be a vignette. The borders can be a vignette. The portraits can be a vignette. The reverse image can be another vignette. The example below is just one example of how the American Banknote Company illustrated different types/styles of vignettes.

Hope this helps!

Wiggam,

Great presentation! There are many collectors that love this vignette (me included). Thank you for sharing a bit of the history and how you came to enjoy this piece great of art!!!

Best Regards ~ Darryl

Wiggam..

I too fell in Love with this note and it was a must have for me..
I liked the presentation and especially your drive and motovation to get one of these notes.
I hope you do not mind me posting my Battleship...I really like em alot!!
BTW... this class of Battleship had only 1 Smoke Stack if I am not mistaken..that is one of the differences in this vignette compared to the real ship. It was the USS New York # 22 as well.

Can you imagine finding that SN on this Note!! WOW!!
Nice job!!


RickieB


This one as well is a PCGS63..I have not rescanned it since it was on BanknoteBank all those years ago.. maybe I will go down in a few and do so and post the image it deserves.

Jim, here is the example: