"Pablo" the Bison $10 United States Note

While most of you more than likely know, "Pablo" the Central Vignette of the Series 1901 $10 United States Note was engraved by Marcus W. Baldwin.
You more than likely know that he joined the BEP on January 5, 1897 as well...and then a select few of you will know that he engraved the backs for the $20 and $50 Federal Reserve Notes of 1914 in only 21 days! What a feat!!

But do you know who the Artist was that actually drew the sketch of Pablo from which Marcus Baldwin engraved, where he studied, and what his specialty was?

That is the question....there just may be a surprise at some point in this thread..I suppose we will have to wait and see.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Rickie, I've heard that the original drawing was that of a stuffed bison that was in the Smithsonian in the late 19th century. Apparently, it was one that was shot in Montana in 1886.

Chris

 

Love threads like this one........

 

But Pablo appeared on a note nearly 70 years later, but you would have had to have been in Viet-Nam to see him:

 

If I remember accurately there was some controversy over wether the engraving was done from a photo or if it was from a sketch by one Charles Knight. I am not sure if the controversy has ever been laid to rest, (do they ever get laid to rest?) but I would say that I see Bison notes quite often in lots of grades.

That is kind of surprising to me because 10 dollars was a lot of money back in the time when those notes circulated, like almost a thousand would be today.

 

The Bisons were being released into circulation into the very early 1920s and would have circulated through that decade.

 

That is true, and with the huge deflation of the 1930s a ten dollar bill would have been even more tempting to spend.

 

One of the stories credits Charles Knight giving his sketch to Baldwin for the engraving as noted here, http://news.whitman.com/news/the-series-of-1901-legal-tender-10-bison-note/, but I'm not sure if they know it was engraved from the sketch or a photo.

 

Well two of you know who did the sketch..thats fantastic!!
What about the other questions on Charles Knight?

Any thoughts?... more to come.

Has anyone looked up "Pablo" on the Heritage Archives?
What did you find?
What sets this apart from the true Proof from the BEP?

Search deep in the methods of printing back then and how they handled such items...

RickieB

 

Fantastic information here...that's what the paper forum was missing. Glad to see Rickie back teaching once again!!!

 

Here's something I posted in another thread not too long ago:
http://www.cointalk.com/threads/engraved-mpc-designs-on-souvenir-cards.221756/#post-1642133
I gleaned this information from an article in the Essay-Proof Journal, issue #93.

And it's great to see a post from you, Rick!

 

This bison also appears on an intaglio souvenir card from 1981 (SO21). However, the card was produced by Security-Columbian Bank Note Co., not the BEP, and on close examination the image has subtle differences. I wonder who engraved this one?

 

Charles R. Knight, Metropolitan Art School, Dinosaurs & prehistoric animals;
I didn't realize until looking this up that the person who sketched Pablo was the same guy who's work I remembered really liking when I went to the National Museum of Natural History in Washington some 35+ years ago....learned something new, thanks RickieB!

 

Has anyone found Pablo in Heritage yet?
If so what did you find?

Do you know the difference between the listed Pablo in Heritage and the Original Proof from the BEP?
What differences do they display?
What resides on the reverse of the BEP Proof?

This is where it really gets tricky!
Stay tuned for that that surprise and a little History you may not have known before..
Some good answers and posting on Pablo..thanks for taking the time to research him somewhat.

jj00.. good job

 

I think this was used on the postage stamp, also.

 

A little more research turned up the name of Raymond Ostrander Smith, BEP art designer at the time. He appears to have done the design of the bison from Knight's original sketch and Baldwin engraved from that. Smith also designed a number of stamps for the Bureau including the 1898 $1 Trans-Mississippi issue.

 

Since no one has replied about the Heritage Listing..I thought I would put it up for you to see.
http://currency.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=30092&lotNo=20214#Photo

What seems out of the Normal here for this?
Do you know your History on how many of these exist and if any are "Original from BEP Property? What would the differences be between this one and a BEP owned piece?

Have fun on your search....

RickieB

 

gsalexan:

Hessler's Reference indicates that this vignette was used on the $1 MPC Series 692
as well as the 30Cent Postage Stamp. He does not reference and changes to the engraving or renditions of the engraving so it makes me think they are 1 in the same?

If anyone knows anything different, I would sure appreciate it.

RickieB

 

I did look at the Heritage proof, but couldn't come up with anything. It does mention a serial number on the back, which typically indicates a BEP proof. But it doesn't have a "Bureau of Engraving & Printing" printed insignia and the impressed frame is unusual -- is that what you mean?

 

Nope, the S-CBNC bison really is a completely different engraving -- I did a close comparison to the BEP version. But I'm sure the reference model was the same. Maybe it was a practice engraving.