Wow...great vignettes. I love RR themed notes, Abnc printed them for many countries. The China series for the Bank of Communication are my favorites.
Ohhhh, you've really opened Pandora's Box now! This forum is rich with veins of ABNC vignettes if you do a little mining. Try a Forum Search for "American Bank Note" or maybe "vignette" and see what pops up. Here are some of the best threads: http://www.cointalk.com/t144927/#post1207262 http://www.cointalk.com/t94549/ http://www.cointalk.com/t199225/ http://www.cointalk.com/t180182/ http://www.cointalk.com/t192032/ http://www.cointalk.com/t165585/ http://www.cointalk.com/t90594/#post829440 http://www.cointalk.com/t140661/ I'll post several of my favorites. Incidentally, your portrait vignette and Steve's trains are all from pages of "The Story of the American Bank Note Company" by William Griffiths, published in 1959. It includes more than 100 engraved vignettes -- BUY it if you find a copy for $50 or less.
I agree with Greg. I've had a copy of the book for 3 years now and it's chocked full of really cool vignettes and I consider it one of the most interesting books in my numismatic library.
if you like 'em, post something and bump them back up. There are a lot of cool threads out there that have gotten buried, and we have many new members who aren't aware of them.
EXCELLENT!!! Great threads....I will look for the book. ABNC is the classiest of the banknote printers in my book.
Here's one more thread I think you'll enjoy: http://www.cointalk.com/t75278/ Sadly, we lost Bob Connor a couple years ago. He was a very enthusiastic collector of this kind of material. But I'm hoping we can generate more interest as new collectors start to enter the field.
Those are all really nice notes! I've been thinking about picking up one of those ABNC specimen notes for a while. There seems to be quite a few on eBay; if I can snag one for under $20 I'd consider that a good buy.
Bought this one from John Spinelli I've seen them both ways, with the front and back colors reversed.
Under $20 would be an exceptional buy. A few of these notes have shown up lately, but when they are gone it will probably be a long while until you see them again, and the price will have gone up. I think they have a bright future.
Nice to see a new ABNCo thread taking off! Most of my collection of ABNCo stuff is Archive Series portfolios, which I've posted before in other threads here on CT. I haven't collected any examples of ABNCo work done for other nations' currency and securities, but I sure do admire the work I've seen from them. Looking forward to seeing what new stuff this thread brings out.
Chris, you should post a few of the Archive panels here. A lot of members haven't seen them. Getting back to pictures, here's a nice ABNC stock certif with something you'll rarely see -- a vignette that also appears on federal currency. You'll find the "keyhole" image of the statue of Freedom on the first issue $5 U.S. Note, printed pre-BEP by the ABNC. This vignette is a mystery to me, because it should have been turned over to the Bureau along with all the other plates used to print U.S. securities. Yet here it is and I've seen it on one or two other stocks and bonds. It also was used on an obsolete note featured on a souvenir card. Perhaps ABNC got special dispensation for this one vignette, in case previous clients who used it requested additional merchandise to be printed. The eagle is another vignette that saw a lot of use, particularly on checks. I have it on one you can view here: http://www.cointalk.com/t108341-3/#post1010555
Wow, I hit the mother lode of ABNC images tonight! I happened on a posted search result for "bank note" in the Library of Congress website. Quite a number of archival vignettes like this one here. This looks like a researcher's nirvana. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?q=bank+note&fa=displayed:anywhere&sp=1&st=gallery&op=PHRASE
Excellent link! Some real gems of history in there... New York Bank Note Co. draped with a hefty protest banner scolding the NYSE! WOW! First step in National Bank Note destruction, cutting off the lower corners (c.1914). Yipes!
