Hi, I've had this piece for maybe 20 years and never found out if my suspicions are true that it is a sample note printed by the government to aid in counterfeit detection in the 19th century. it's one sided and on a sort of cardboard. What do you guys think? .
There were "posters" made to identify counterfeits of fractional currency, popularly called "shields," due to the shape, but I don't know of any for standard currency. Shields had 39 notes, 20 obverses and 19 reverses, as shown below: Best image I could find. Originals are worth a small fortune.
I suspect it may be a test print for a plate used in the printing of one of the many privately published counterfeit note detection books that were popular back then. I do know that at least one of them got permission to use actual government printing plates in the making of their book.
Neat piece! I'm pretty sure this is from one of Laban Heath's counterfeit detectors and it looks to be trimmed down. I'll see if I can figure out which year it's from and maybe post a picture.
I figured it was something for counterfeit detection. I have heard of the book you're talking about but I don't think I've ever seen one in person. This really does looks like it might have been printed from the government plates as the detail is very good and it's cancelled. Maybe the "P14" in the margin will help to ID it. Thanks, Mike.
This is way out in left field but it could be a sample sent to all the congressmen for approval of the design. They are the legal body for all printed currency. This has happened in the past for both paper currency and coins.
After a bit of research I've narrowed down the possibilities. This is most likely from a Banking House version of "Heath's Infallible Government Counterfeit Detector" -- either the 12th or 13th, which came out in 1877 and 1878 and included plates like yours from the series 1875 U.S. Notes. Heath started publishing these detectors in 1864 and continued into the early 1880s, though the 13th edition was the last. There were smaller Pocket editions, which are more common, and a short lived Household edition which is among the hardest to find. And he did indeed use illustrations printed for him from government plates by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. The Banking and Counting House editions were the largest and longest (and most expensive). Later editions contained numerous partial plates of all U.S. currency in circulation at the time. The Banking House editions showed about 2/3 of the left side of each note, the Pocket versions showed only 1/3 of the right side. I've been unable to locate an image that matches your plate (which is Plate 4 -- PT.4.), but I'll post the counterpart from an 1877 Pocket edition. You can read a little more about these books here, although the article lists inaccurate dates for the Banking House editions.
