Closer look at 1918 battleship note

The USS California was the second of the Tennessee class battleships to be launched and commissioned. I would also love to see the engravings you mentioned.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Yes show them

 

Okay, here we go. The first vignette is the Battleship Maine, which was the catalyst for the Spanish-American War. This was used on at least two rare 1898 war bonds. I'm including a page from "An Illustrated History of U.S. Loans" by Gene Hessler.





Next is the Battleship Massachusetts, shown on another BEP souvenir card, B-182. This was the initial essay for a $10 silver certificate, series 1899, which was later modified for use as the famous 1901 "Bison Note." The Massachusetts engraving was never used.





Then there are two fairly large battleships that were used for souvenir cards distributed at the BEP exhibitions for various Worlds Fairs. The first one is titled "USS Virginia" and was given out at the 1907 Jamestown Exposition. But the same engraving was retitled "USS Nebraska" for the 1915 International Panama-Pacific Exposition, and left untitled for the 1926 Sesquicentennial Expo.



For San Diego's 1915 Panama-California Exposition (not to be confused with San Francisco's competing IPPE the same year), the BEP engraved a similar dreadnought for use on cards distributed at that fair. But this one specifically depicted the U.S.S. San Diego. The same vignette was re-used a century later on souvenir card B-315.

 

And to dovetail back into the original topic, I remembered there is another souvenir card that features the $2 battleship note -- B-116. This one is easier to find on ebay and it doesn't have COPY stamped on it.

 

Bradley, I'm not sure we'll ever know which ship it was based on. But, it's a great way to learn history. My son said he couldn't find any records to indicate which ship it was but went with the Nevada because it made the most sense. I going to see him next week and I think I'll ask him to take the note to his office to see if anyone can find more information on the ship depicted. If anyone can find out it would be the department he works in. (New Ship Design & Repair of the existing fleet) They have records on every ship built by the US Navy including the USS Constitution docked in Boston harbor. History note: The last actual war time mission of the USS Constitution was to sail to the Naval Academy during the civil war and bring the midshipmen to Newport RI. They used Newport as the location of the academy during the civil war. This location is still being used today as the Naval Academy Prep School and Naval War college. I'll let you know what he finds. By the way I always loved that note. It's to bad they don't use it today. However, you can buy a copy of it on the US Mint Webb site.

 

The ship on the $2 note is the USS New York from an engraving by C.M. Chalmers used for propaganda in the runup to WWI involvement. Its sister ship is the USS Texas. Distinguishing differences are the horizontal position of the searchlights on the foremast on the New York s. up-and-down on the Texas until 1917.
The picture on the bill is also reversed in that the two ships had two anchors on the port side and one on the starboard side thus the ship shown was actually steaming to the left. For propaganda purposes, it would have been shown to advancing aggressively toward Europe which would west to east or left to right.

 

A mirror image makes sense for another reason -- an engraved plate prints in reverse. It's interesting that all the battleships have a left to right orientation, except one. The ship used on Honorable Discharge certificates is R to L, symbolizing the return home.

 

It would've been nice to have seen any of these engravings applied to a piece of paper money. Anyway, I could not help but notice that all these ships currently lay at the bottom of the ocean.

After being raised from the bottom of Havana harbor, the USS Maine was scuttled in deep water in the Florida Straits. The remains of the Maine were discovered about 20 years ago.

The USS San Diego was sunk by a German mine off the coast of Long Island. The wreck remains an extremely popular fishing and dive site due to the shallow nature of the wreck.

https://news.usni.org/2018/12/11/investigation-confirms-wwi-cruiser-uss-san-diego-sunk-u-boat-mine

The USS Massachusetts was scuttled in 1923 off the coast of Pensacola, Florida, in shallow water. The remains of the Massachusetts were declared a Florida Underwater Archaeological Preserve and were later added to the National Register of Historic Places. Below is an aerial photo of what remains of the Massachusetts.



The USS Virginia, along with its sister ship the New Jersey, were both scuttled off the coast of North Carolina by aerial bombing runs in compliance with the Washington Naval Treaty. Both ships lay inverted on the seabed accessible only to divers with highly specialized training.

The USS New York survived both atomic tests at Bikini Atoll in 1946. The U.S. Navy later scuttled her in 1948 as a target.

 

I believe the USS Maine's mast is still on memorial display at Arlington National Cemetery, as it has been for many years.

 

Well, surprise! I realized there are two more battleships that everybody missed. These are fairly small and easily overlooked, but here they are.

One is on the back of the Series 1902 $10 National Bank Note.




The other is on the back of the 1914 $50 Federal Reserve Note.




If anyone thinks they can identify the class of ships they are, take your shot.

 

The BEP issued this for the 1988 ANA Show in 1988 without the word 'COPY' on it. Just look on eBay for one.

 

BB-44 - Tennessee Class battleship.

 

In my opinion, the ship on the Series 1902 $10 National Bank Note resembles the USS Maine due to the en echelon arrangement of the turrets. However, it would seem that the engraver took artistic liberties in depicting the ship as the forward turret was actually mounted on the starboard side.

 

The battleship on the 1914 $50 Federal Reserve Note doesn't look like the one on the 1918 $2 Federal Reserve Banknote. For starters, the turrets appear rather similar to those on the Wyoming Class compared to the following New York Class. Moreover, the amidship turrets appear to be in a superfiring arrangement similar to what was seen on the Wyoming Class. However, in all retrospect, I believe that the identity of this particular vessel will remain ambiguous.

Wyoming Class: http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNUS_12-50_mk7.php

New York Class:
http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNUS_14-45_mk1.php

 

Oh, don't worry there will be an end, God will see to that! Again, thanks for the original post Mountain Man (very nice).

 

"Mister. What is the longest ship in the Navy?" "Sir, the USS Maine. Its mainmast is in Arlington cemetary and its foremast is at the US Naval Academy, Sir"

 

And her forward gun turret is way down in Key West. https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/101009

 

One more BEP battleship popped up in the last Archives International auction. This is a proof of a letterhead, I think. I wish they had provided a better quality image, but it's definitely a different vignette than the others I posted. Might be the Maine, but it's hard to say.

 

Why are the nicest pieces of currency always the most expensive..especially notes, notes are harder to collect than coinage.

 

I believe the answer is, Supply and Demand.