Large Size Jackass Error

I recently bought this Jackass note. It wasn't until I received it did I notice the error with the serial number!




The top right serial number is shifted and rotated counter-clockwise, but the lower left serial number is properly oriented. This is the first I've seen of this error on a large size note. Even though the error is minor, it is pretty significant. It's not the more common misaligned printing, where the sheet is improperly positioned. This can only be caused by a faulty alignment of the numbering heads.

This reminds me of this extremely dramatic error: http://www.cointalk.com/threads/misalignment-error-what-in-the.240748/

I will be listing it on eBay tomorrow at 6PM PST. If anyone wants dibs before it goes up, send me a private message.

 

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I've never seen a shift like that on a large size and I've been collecting since 1955 or so.

 

I had to look that up.

con·triv·ance
kənˈtrīvəns/
noun

• a thing that is created skillfully and inventively to serve a particular purpose.
• the use of skill to bring something about or create something.
• a device, especially in literary or artistic composition, that gives a sense of artificiality.

How do you suppose this was created? There's no way I can fathom that this could be faked. And if someone had that capability (say in the BEP), there are far rarer errors that could be created intentionally.

Once printed, you can't simply lift the serial number off the paper and rotate it. It's also impossible to remove the printed serial number without affecting the ink of the design underneath it.

The only possible way is if the note was initially missing the upper right serial number, and someone "printed" the serial number over the blank space. But this would be a really poor choice. A mismatched serial number could be worth far more.

 

With so many "fake" errors on the market, questioning what you see is the smart thing to do.

There is a difference in the depth of the ink and the shape of the characters. This is known to happen when one set of numbering heads receives more ink than the other. I have seen this effect a lot on large size notes.

Let's what others have to say.

 

Perhaps it is indicative of a replacement. Could the serial numbers have been hand applied as with small national bank notes?

 

That is very interesting. I too have never seen such an error on a large sized note before.

 

Interesting theory. I can't recall what I once knew about older replacement notes. Hopefully someone might chime in who has more info.

 

Maybe for a old series like 1880 the guys at the BEP were trying to get the most out of the runs they had and maybe all the "errors" of back then were someone trying to
C.Y.A. and keep productivity up. who knows. We would have to "ask" them if we could.
Crank up the old time machine.

 

Seems to me both serials are rotated with respect to true center, in opposite directions, the top one just is more obvious. Might ask this on the PCGS forum, alot of knowledge over there (some of them come here too... but I'd still ask it there). Replacements for nationals often had hand stamps but I am not aware of it being done on BEP notes. The hand stamped nationals tend to be more obvious because the individual digits are a bit katywampus in relation to each other...

 

MEC, I've tried to register on that forum over and over, but it will not let me complete my registration. Can you post it over there for me?

 

Got you covered my brother from another mother...

http://forums.collectors.com/messageview.cfm?catid=23&threadid=919458

 

That was my first thought. Prior to the invention of star notes in 1910, all replacements were handled that way.

But I thought these replacements would always have been numbered on a device with only one numbering head, the two serials being applied one after the other. This note clearly wasn't printed that way, since (as others have pointed out) some of the characters in the two serials don't match. In the top serial, the feet of the A fall below the base of the 2; in the bottom serial they're well above it. In the bottom serial, the 2 has a large serif that's level with the tail of the 9; in the top serial the serif of the 2 is much smaller and well below the tail of the 9. And so forth. These aren't differences in inking or pressure--the two serials were printed by two different numbering heads.

Were large-size replacements ever printed on a press with two separate numbering heads? I dunno, but somebody over on the PCGS forum probably will.

 

Thanks! I think the deal with the registration, is the annoying "approval" part. Every time I registered, I got this message:


You have been signed up for the forums.
This forum requires that all users be approved prior to using the forums. Once approved, you will be sent your login information.


As you can guess, my login information must have been lost in the mail. Every time.

 

This is the last series of the 1880 $10 LT's and (correct me if I'm wrong) was probably in print until early 1900's, since the 1901 Bison is the next series. A dual serial number press doesn't seem that unlikely for replacement notes, and only a few years away from the first stars.

 

So the listing has now gone live: http://www.ebay.com/itm/121355208330

I just pulled the But-It-Now number out of my ass, by the way.

 

From the sigs, I'd say this was made between 1898 and 1905. pretty late issue bill if you ask me, considering that the "Buffalo" note was about to replace it.

 

From NorthTrek of PCGS forums:

Here's are some fascinating articles on the paging machine and pre-star replacement notes:
https://www.spmc.org/sites/default/files/memphis_handout.pdf

http://www.spmc.org/blog/1914-non-star-replacement-note

 

Funkee I really like when you send me to another site Like SPMC because after reading the article I have to find it in my stack of Old SPMC magazines dating back to around 1976.