Souvenir cards

Not necessary, just wanted to point out it was very thoughtful and was happy to see you that you liked it! I was able to get one from the same seller and really appreciate the artistry!

Best Regards ~ Darryl

 

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Thanks Darryl! I, too, am grateful for this thread and the opportunity to share knowledge about these cards. (Thanks to you as well, Krispy.) I could probably populate dozens more pages with all the fantastic vignettes and reprints that have been issued, but I'll have to dole them out slowly as time allows.

There are several sub-categories of this collecting field that we could spin-off: philatelic cards, semi-officials (American Bank Note, primarily), forerunners (pre-1960), union cards (printed for Plate Printers union conventions), and the list goes on.

-- Greg

 

Okay, you guys got me hooked! (like I need to collect something else).

Received my first card of many and I love it! Now all I need to go with it is a real one.

 

Love it! :thumb:

 

That's a great starter one

 

lol ~ me too! Nice card!

 

Ahhh, that one is a beauty. The BEP used this same note on a souvenir card for the 2004 ANA show in Portland -- except that now the Secret Service has required that note reprints must have "Specimen" printed somewhere on it. I much prefer them without.

 

Has that requirement changed the value of older cards vs. newer cards (note reprints) marked 'specimen'?

 

My second card came in the mail today!

 

That's killer! Really bold color! :thumb:

 

Great card. That's on my want list near the top.

 

On a roll! One card that I thought would be the hardest to find came up on a BIN so I grabbed it.

This is the seller's pic:

 

Not that I've noticed -- prices have remained stable for five years or more. The newer "specimen" cards are actually more expensive because the BEP isn't printing nearly as many these days, so there's more demand on the secondary market. What I have noticed is that the BEP in general is featuring vignettes on cards far more often than complete currency plates. No worries regarding the SS on those.

I'll post that '04 ANA card. You can see they've artistically incorporated "Specimen" into the seal. Most of the time they just drop it in on some blank area.

 

Well that's a relief to hear that prices haven't gone in two directions between specimen and non-specimen cards. Stable pricing is more to my liking. That 'specimen' label over the seal is just an atrocious eye sore. The entire point of these cards is to bring collectors closer to examining these elegant pieces of security engraving, minus serial numbers or other unique identifiers. It's a shame their solution couldn't incorporate some sort of 'invisible' UV ink or other modern feature to render the note more counterfeit-proof while not visually interrupting the original design.

I have noticed the prices on the BEP store for FUN and ANA cards is quite steep in price and that instead of printing the note plates, they are ganging up several smaller vignettes nested in decorative graphics. I like that they are readily available new online or at the conventions but I'm not always a fan of the groupings of vignettes they choose to place together.

 

Yeah, it's like they're just raiding their vault for vaguely theme-related vignettes. The quality of the engravings is usually top-notch, but they really need a better conceptual designer to do the layout.

 

Great card. That one's on my "must have" list.

 

These cards are so beautiful! I'm going to try to pick up one or two of the classics each week. I bought this one this evening. It's the same one Krispy posted on the first page of this thread:

 

Aren't they just so stunning in hand?! They are better than most collectors could ever afford to own in an original note of such gem quality! I think even those who own actual examples of these notes, should own these repro plates. They just blow me away!

 

They are stunning!

Some of these notes in top condition would cost me my entire year's coin/currency purchasing budget. Until I win the lottery or get added to a will, these cards will do nicely.

 

Yeah, how often can you find an Educational note for under $10? ;-)