American Bank Note’s silver plates

Discussion in 'Paper Money' started by gsalexan, May 29, 2014.

  1. gsalexan

    gsalexan Intaglio aficionado

    This presentation was originally posted on CT several years back in an album where not many people got to see it. For the benefit of those who missed it and for new members, I’ve decided to repost it as a thread.

    The American Bicentennial celebration provided a great excuse to issue all manner of collectibles—stamps, coins, souvenir cards and other more esoteric items. The results of one collaborative effort between American Bank Note Co. and International Silver Co. occasionally surfaces on eBay, which is how it eventually landed in my collection.

    The Historic American Currency series is not well known by collectors. It was marketed between 1975-77 by American Express and was only available to their members. Despite a handsome promotional brochure, the series apparently didn’t sell well (they were fairly expensive). Most sets were dumped as bullion when the price of silver spiked in late 1979. Both factors contributed to their scarcity and obscurity today.

    HAC bklt cover.jpg HAC bklt p9-10.jpg HAC full set.jpg HAC box & holder.jpg HAC set contents.jpg HAC single.jpg
    The series consists of six bank note sets, each housed in an individual presentation case. Though the cases are attractive, in fact they were cheaply made. A set consists of one intaglio paper print on card stock by ABNC and the same bank note stamped into a sterling silver plate and “inked” so that the engraved image stands out. Both the silver and paper bank notes were imprinted with ABNC and IS insignias, along with each collection’s individual serial number. The bank notes appear to have been selected for their vignettes, which mostly pertain to the American Revolution…
     
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  3. gsalexan

    gsalexan Intaglio aficionado

    SOH 1 Liberty Bank.jpg SOH 2 Bk of Charleston.jpg SOH 3 Omaha & Chicago Bk.jpg SOH 4 Commercial Bank.jpeg SOH 5 Canton Bank.jpg SOH 6 Bk of Washington.jpg The complete set includes the following notes:

    #1 $100 Liberty Bank, Providence, RI • circa 1858
    Vignette depicts the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown
    Imprint of American Bank Note Co.

    #2 $50 Bank of Charleston, South Carolina • circa 1838
    Vignette depicts the British naval bombardment of Fort Moultrie
    Imprint of Draper, Toppan, Longacre & Co.

    #3 $5 Omaha and Chicago Bank, Nebraska Territory • circa 1857
    Vignette depicts the Battle of Lexington
    Imprint of Bald, Cousland & Co.

    #4 $100 Commercial Bank, Wilmington, NC • circa 1850
    Vignettes depict sailors and an American ship
    Imprint of Danforth, Bald & Co.

    #5 $2 The Canton Bank, China, Maine • originally issued 1855
    Vignette depicts the signing of the Declaration of Independence
    Imprints of Rawdon, Wright, Hatch & Edson and New England Bank Note Co.

    #6 $4 Bank of Washington, North Carolina • circa 1860
    Vignettes depicts George and Martha Washington, and a symbolic American scene
    Imprint of American Bank Note Co.

    Total production of the series was “limited to 7500” but it’s doubtful that anywhere near that number were sold. The highest serial number in my possession is #2328...
     
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  4. gsalexan

    gsalexan Intaglio aficionado

    The ABNC paper prints measure 8.5 x 4.25”. On their reverse, each has “COPY / An authentic reproduction from the original plates (1976)” -- except the Liberty Bank note, which says 1973. (This first note represents the “trial run,” printed before the entire series was produced.)

    Each pair of bank notes came with an attractive 20-page booklet, which provides historical details about the bank, the scenes depicted, and often about the engravings. The content is well written and researched, with illustrations (not intaglio) and a bibliography. These booklets have ABNC’s signature eagle on the cover, which is intaglio, each printed in a different color—red, brown, green, etc.

    An individual registration certificate accompanied each presentation case, printed in intaglio (blue) and personalized with the buyer’s name as the registered owner. In keeping with International Silver’s tradition with their silverware sets, the reverse (also intaglio) offered the owner a Title Transfer form should he chose to sell. The new owner could then mail in the form and re-register ownership. Though the booklets tend to stick with these sets, often the ownership certificates have disappeared. (I checked with Syratech, Inc., which acquired International Silver in 1986, but they did not retain the registry archives.) ... HAC reverse.jpg HAC booklet cover.jpg HAC booklet interior.jpg HAC certif.jpg Title transfer.jpg
     
    Last edited: May 29, 2014
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  5. gsalexan

    gsalexan Intaglio aficionado

    HAC silver plate.jpg HAC silver plate in holder.jpg

    The metal “bank note” is .75 mm thick, measures 8 x 3.75” and contains 5.5 oz of .925 fine sterling silver. As I write, that represents a bullion value of about $94 at today’s spot price of $19 an ounce. But multiply it by $50 an ounce when silver topped out in January 1980 and you can understand why few of these sets survived intact. On the way to the smelter, the presentation case and its contents likely landed in the dumpster as collateral waste.

    Mysteries about this series remain, like true production numbers, and how ABNC impressed their engravings onto the silver plates. Normally a hardened steel transfer cylinder with a positive image would be used to press a negative image on a plate, which would then be used for printing. But this time they wanted a showpiece, so the final image on metal had to be positive. Stamping a steel printing plate into a softer silver one would work in theory, but silver is still a lot harder than paper.

    Most owners apparently didn’t have the heart to remove the sealed plastic that the metal bank note arrived in, even though according to the booklet, the silver was specially lacquered to prevent tarnishing. Makes you wonder if the lacquer would prevent it from actually being used for printing.

    Of course, you’d have to be satisfied with the resulting mirror image.
     
  6. Jwt708

    Jwt708 Well-Known Member

    Very cool, thanks for posting this!
     
  7. Dave M

    Dave M Francophiliac

    Nice write-up!
     
  8. saltysam-1

    saltysam-1 Junior Member

    The Omaha and Chicago Bank Note Eagle is almost identical to the one Michael Bean uses on his business card. Only the background tree configuration is different. This print must be very popular overall. Can individuals purchase these plates direct from ABNCO? I wonder how Michael obtained his?
     
  9. gsalexan

    gsalexan Intaglio aficionado

    The eagle on the brochure, you mean -- like my avatar? This is the ABN signature emblem (it's on their stock certificate), but there were several versions done by different bank note companies. I think it was kind of a friendly competition between engravers.

    As to obtaining printing plates, when ABNC went out of business in the early '90s a lot of their original plates and transfer rolls were put up for auction. There were more than a dozen auctions over more than a decade. Thousands of plates are now in collectors' hands and some have been used to print souvenir cards -- and in Mike's case business cards. I have two plates and two transfer dies. You can read more here:
    http://www.cointalk.com/threads/engraved-indian-head-abnco-die.108966/#post-895693
     
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  10. saltysam-1

    saltysam-1 Junior Member

    I never knew this. I will keep an eye out for their plates here after. Thanks.
     
  11. gsalexan

    gsalexan Intaglio aficionado

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  12. USS656

    USS656 Here to Learn Supporter

    :) Nice Thread :) more later :)
     
  13. krispy

    krispy krispy

    Thank you! I really enjoyed seeing this and learning about this set.
     
  14. gsalexan

    gsalexan Intaglio aficionado

    When we printed up my "$100" intaglio plate I took along one of these silver plates to see whether it might be printable. The answer was "probably, but it wouldn't be pretty." Upon close examination, the engraving on the silver plate appears to have been done using sort of a photogravure process, so the lines are not as sharply defined as a genuine plate. Kind of like a bad photocopy. Also the lacquer finish might make it harder to print. Still, I may get gutsy eventually and try it anyway.
     
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  15. krispy

    krispy krispy

    I couldn't bring myself to ink up the plate, plus it's going to print a reverse image, and damage the plate in the process. Wiping the plate with ink to fill the lines and polishing off the excess in the fields will add hairlines and destroy the collector value that seems inherent in how few of these you suggest remain together.

    The way you describe the plates, they seem to have ink rubbed into the engraved lines to show off their designs. These would have to be cleaned out and the plate polished in preparation of taking ink for printing, and even then, the plate was probably not properly etched/engraved to hold ink for printing.

    While it may yield an image from such a printing attempt, the line quality would probably underwhelm you compared to the properly engraved die plates you know and cherish so well. I would further expect no raised ink lines (embossed lines) as the line work is probably not deep enough to hold and deliver, under pressure, enough ink to paper.

    You already have a print of the plate in the set, but you could consider a high resolution scan of the plate if you hoped to make any "impressions" from them. Though scanning the plates would be harder than scanning the example of the printed note itself.

    I really enjoy looking at this set. Thanks again for taking the time to share it here.
     
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  16. krispy

    krispy krispy

    BTW, Is the Maine $2 Canton Bank vignette (top right of center) the same as the one reproduced in the 1987 ABNCo Archive Series, plate titled "Moments in History" (upper left vignette).

    [​IMG]

    I know it's a similar scene reproduced frequently on different notes, at different scales, etc. but I often wonder how much noodling with previous designs these companies did. That is, rather than start from scratch each time, did they alter, by reburnishing an original master pie plate, or start each from scratch. We minor design elements for security purposes altered to denote a different plate or use or adjusted to suit scale, design tastes, and so on. When merging or acquiring one company and it's inventory, was it best to alter previous work under the new firm, if reutilizing the property you acquired in merger, or something else... Just curious.
     
    Last edited: Nov 11, 2014
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  17. USS656

    USS656 Here to Learn Supporter

    As promised ;) I picked this plate up off of ebay for a very small amount above current melt. All of the documentation is missing but the plate is in nice shape. It was sitting in a pawn shop in South Florida so I'm glad to have rescued it. :)

    [​IMG]

    Here are some close-ups of the engraving lines under a 20 D lens.

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
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  18. krispy

    krispy krispy

    Cool! Nice find and glad to hear it's in good hands. :)
     
    Last edited: Nov 12, 2014
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  19. gsalexan

    gsalexan Intaglio aficionado

    Yes, that is the same vignette -- good eyes! I went back through the ABN Archive Series and two other matches also show up: the Battle of Bunker Hill scene (in the 1987 portfolio) and the indians (in the 1990 portfolio) both on the Omaha & Chicago note.

    As to reuse of vignettes and ornaments from other bank note companies as they joined ABN, most of the time they were left unaltered. You often see plates with the original vignette catalog number crossed out and a longer ABN catalog number added underneath as they were processed. Unless there was a compelling reason to re-engrave something, maybe at the request of a client (who would have paid extra), they didn't go out of the way to change things. I can only think of one vignette where the scale was changed (enlarged) and that was done in the modern era. Probably the most frequent alteration was cropping -- putting a portrait in an oval, for instance -- but that wouldn't necessarily require an engraver if it could be done mechanically. I'd actually like to learn more about that part of the transfer process. If you do comparative scans of vignettes that appear on obsolete notes and the same vignettes that appear on, say, a stock certificate from the 1940s they typically line up precisely.

    Way to go Darryl! These are just cool, aren't they? I was lucky to get mine when silver was more affordable.

    Your close-ups show the limitations of the photographic transfer process. The eagle is a good example. You can see how the really fine lines get muddy in comparison to the engraved print. Also, if you examine the script lettering you'll see that it drops away in spots on the plate; it's just not possible to hold those tight lines on a photo without everything else getting dark. And that's exactly why engraving was such a great anti-counterfeiting measure.

    And yes, Chris, I concur that a print from one of these plates would be much inferior to a print from an original plate. But they did as good a job as possible with the technology at hand.
    Eagle on plate.jpg
    Liberty eagle.jpg
     
    Last edited: Nov 13, 2014
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  20. krispy

    krispy krispy

    I was curious about the Indians scene but couldn't confirm it! And interesting (to me just now) that you should mention the Bunker Hill vignette. I'll have to look for that one. I recently read Bunker Hill by Nathaniel Philbrick. It's a very well reconstructed history drawn from many sources, that really illuminates the time leading up to the battle, how terribly bloody and heinous were the casualties then, and how it fit into the greater revolution for independence. Anyway... Thanks for the added info and ideas I was asking towards the re-purposed dies.

    Another aside, not sure if you get the SPMC Paper Money journal, but it has a Fred Schwan article, talking about his work on the E A Wright company. It's a kick off co-authored series in Paper Money that will be talking about various bank note companies in future issues. This first one is in Sept/Oct 2014 issue.
     
  21. gsalexan

    gsalexan Intaglio aficionado

    Uh oh, I'm embarrassed. I pulled out the informational pamphlet that came with the Omaha and Chicago set and it turns the scene depicted is the Battle of Lexington. :oops: But the Battle of Bunker Hill is also depicted on that 1987 Archive Series panel "The Price of Freedom."
     
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