This presentation demonstrates how many engravers work together to design one note. This Fourth Issue large size $2 silver certificate is of the Series 1899 which was authorized by the Act of August 4, 1886. At the center is a portrait of President George Washington that is based on Gilbert Stuarts likeness of him. He is flanked by Mechanics and Agriculture which were cornerstones of Americas economy a century ago. G. F. C. Smillie, Marcus Wickliffe Baldwin, E.M. Hall, W.F. Lutz, J.P. Prender, R. Ponickau, D.S. Ronaldson and G.U. Rose all played a part in bringing this note to life. Front of the note was designed by G.F.C. Smillie and M.W.Baldwin **G. F. C. Smillie-Picture Engraver & Portrait Engraver -Born in NYC 11-22-1854 and died in Washington DC 1-21-1924 -Studied at the Cooper Union and The National Academy of Design in NYC -Employed at American BNCo 1871-1887 -Joined Canada BNCo 4-19-1887 -Back to NYC to work at Homer Lee BNCo 3-7-1888 -Engraved for Hamilton BNCo and Western BNCo 1890-1894 -Joined BEP as Chief Engraver 3-8-1894 -Retired from BEP in 1922 and returned to ABNCo **Marcus Wickliffe Baldwin-Picture Engraver & Portrait Engraver -Born in Irvington, NJ 3-31-1853 and died in NYC 7-15-1925 -Apprenticed at American BNCo under Louis Delnoce and ALfred JOnes -With National BNCo in 1869 and stayed after it consolodated with ABNCo in 1878 -Formed Baldwin, Gleason & Co. in NYC in 1880 -Joined BEP 1-5-1897 where his first work for them was a non portrait ticket engraving for the Presidential Inaugural Ball -Retired from BEP 8-20-1920 -Returned to ABNCo 5-4-1921 Back of note designed by E.M. Hall, W.F. Lutz, J.P. Prender, R. Ponickau, D.S. Ronaldson and G.U. Rose **Edward McClellan Hall-Script Engraver -born Beltsville MD 9-16-1862 died 12-23-1939 at age 77. -Went to BEP in 1879, engraving over 175 stamps. -Had 61 years exp. with the BEP at time of death as the BEP made exceptions to the mandatory retirement age of 70 for him. -1 of 8 engravers who executed the ornementation on 1935 $1 silver certificate. **W.F. Lutz-Engraver -began at bep 9-20-1877 and retired 1-1904 John P. Prender Siderographer -Born in Washington DC in 1865 joined the BEP as an apprentice helper 10-1-1881 and retired 6-30-1932. He held many positions including: -sept. 1882 apprentice carpenter, -july 1883 transferer, -sept 1890 plate cleaner, - july 1895 transferer. -july 1922 siderographer . -Also served as notary puiblic at the BEP **Robert Ponickau - Picture Engraver and Portrait Engraver -Born in germany 7-28-1846 and died in Washington DC 3-3-1920. -Joined BEP 10-16-1893. **Douglas S. Ronaldson Ornamental Engraver & Letter Engraver -Born in England 1825, died 1902. -Moved to Pa in 1840 and was working as engraver in 1858. -Employed by American BNCo in the early 1860's . -Was with National BNCo in July 1868 and remained after consolidation of ABNco until about 1897 when he joined the BEP and remained until he died. **George U Rose -Born in NYC 1843 -Joined BEP as a clerk in Dec. 1974 -Became assistant Chief 12-18-1884 -Became executive clerk 7-17-1914 -Left the BEP 10-3-1915 to supervise engraving and printing of banknotes for the Bank Of England -Supervised engraving at Waterlow and Sons about 1922 Most of the info above comes from The Engravers Line (Gene Hessler) and The Comprehensive Catalog of U.S. Paper Money (Gene Hessler & Carlson Chambliss) with the rest provided by google searches.
Beautiful note and a great writeup. I'm going to have to avoid these threads or find some way to add banknote funds to my collection budget. :thumb:
Your presentation of this note was fantastic visually as well as the credits to the many engravers it took to bring this masterpiece of a note together. Very well done,,,congrats !
very well done Noost! Being a silver cert, I love that note lol the note is in a remarkable high grade - is it yours?? the information you provided on the note and the engravers was a very nice read! Great job!!
Nooost!!! Excellent job on the presentation and that Chet Krause note looks just as wonderful as ever. The info on the engravers the note presentation was first class all the way! Great group of folks we have here and reviewing these presentations buy the 4 of you already is a real treat! RickieB
Yes. A Chet Krause plate note, you can see it on page 31 of The Standard Catalog of U.S. Paper Money 27 edition. Glad this write up was well recieved. I thought it was a weak presentation as I didn't have much time to devote to it.
Great job on this presentation. It is really interesting to hear about some of the other guys who do the ornamental engraving. The unsung heroes of banknote engraving I say.
Well done Noost! A very informative presentation. I wonder just how many people where involved to bring this banknote to life. Lou
Thanks very much for this presentation, Noost. I loved the high rez scans of this note, the engraving work is magnificent. Dave
Excellent presentation. I have some additional information on the portrait of President Washington. "Athenaeum" Portrait of George Washingtion The engraving for George Washington on the $1 note is derived from Gilbert Stuart's "Athenaeum" portrait of George Washington in 1796. It is considered the most famous painting of the first president, but it was never finished. After Stuart painted his first portrait for Washington in 1794-1795, Martha Washington asked to have her own portrait done, as well as another one of the President. Intended for Mount Vernon after Washington's retirement, the portraits are known as the Athenaeum portraits because the Boston Athenaeum acquired them after Stuart's death. In these portraits, Washington faces left, and Martha faces slightly to the right, so the pair would be balanced. [ [SIZE=-1]Martha Washington by Gilbert Stuart, 1796 ][/SIZE] [ George Washington by Gilbert Stuart, 1796 ] When Stuart began painting a portrait, he used muted tones of lights and darks, an "indistinct mass of light and shadows," showing the subject "as seen in the heel of the evening, in the gray of the morning, or a distance too great to discriminate features with exactness." In completing a portrait, he advised painters to "be bold and use the color freely, but let it be well mixed" with "no fuzzy edges, but liquid and all of one cast." Some critics claim that Stuart made Washington appear too stern. But the artist always said he painted what he saw: "Nature as Nature cannot be exceeded, and as your object is to copy Nature, twere the hight of folly to look at any thing else to produce that copy." Stuart explained, "When I painted him, he had just had a set of false teeth inserted, which accounts for the constrained expression so noticeable about the mouth and lower part of the face." The "Athenaeum" portrait of George Washington is the image used for the engraving on $1 notes [ image flipped vertically and compared to engraving on $1 FRN ]
Great presentation Noost! Sorry, I was out of town working the last couple of days and just got a chance to get to a comp.. Again, Excellent presentation................................John
