Souvenir cards

Somewhere back in the bowels of this thread I remember seeing an image of B81, the 1985 card from the Int'l Paper Money Show. It featured the reverse of the 1878 $10,000 U.S. Note. The 1984 IPMS card (B69) shows the front of the note and I thought I'd post it.

There are a couple other $10K notes featured on BEP cards from the 1980s and when I have a little more time to scan I'll post them, too. Unless someone beats me to it.

 

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Very nice card. It would look great in my collection.

 

Here are the other two $10,000 notes: the reverse of a 1918 FRN and the front of an 1882 gold certificate. Let's see, what would be worth more today -- $10K in gold coinage or one of these notes in gem unc.?

 

Great looking cards Greg! Thanks for sharing.

 

Here is the new McKinley card I picked up. Card Number S1993D - William McKinley portrait in black.

 

While searching out vignettes for another thread, I was studying some of the early federal notes that were printed by private bank note firms in the 1860s before the BEP hadbeen established. The 1861 $5 and $10 Demand Notes (and nearly identical 1862 US Notes) had two vignettes that appear on souvenir cards. All these notes were produced by American Bank Note Company, as well as the souvenir cards, more than a century later. (Catalog numbers cited here are from the numbering system of the Souvenir Card Collectors Society.)

From the $5, the statue of “Freedom” from the Capitol dome appears on SO129, the ANA May ’94 card and the small portrait of Hamilton appears on SO54, commemorating the 200th anniversary of the Constitution.

 

From the $10 note, the small eagle appears on SO65, commemorating the 200th anniversary of Washington’s inauguration, and the portrait of Lincoln is found on SO135, issued at the 1994 ASDA stamp show. The portrait was also used as a basis for the 90 cent Lincoln stamp, part of the 1869 pictorial series.

You'll also find the eagle in this thread:
http://www.cointalk.com/t165585/#post1141265

 

The eagle from the 1862 $100 U.S. Note is depicted on another souvenir card. SO130, put out at the July 1994 ANA convention, features the vignette along with an eagle hologram. National Bank Note Co. engraved the eagle and produced the note, before merging with ABNC in 1879. The full card is posted earlier in this thread -- http://www.cointalk.com/t94663-22/#post1011181

 

While reading the current Souvenir Card Journal today I learned the sad news that one of the last remaining dealers has called it quits. Robert Bailey had one of the largest inventories and a terrific website (already offline) that I regularly used as a reference. "Age and life have caught up with me," he writes, and one of the heavy burdens was the death of his wife earlier this year.

Bob has consigned his inventory with Regency-Superior, which will auction it at SESCAL in Los Angeles, Oct. 14-16.
http://www.regencystamps.com/viewuserdefinedpage.aspx?pn=calendar

This will be an opportunity for collectors to pick up some hard to find material, likely at a good price, though I'm saddened by the circumstances. Bob's departure definitely leaves a large hole. This makes Ken Barr the last remaining major dealer of souvenir cards.

 

Wow! Such a blow to this segment of collecting. I'm so new to this genre and yet feel what the loss means.

Thank you for sharing this information. I'm making a note of those dates.

 

Union convention booklet

My latest souvenir card acquisition arrived over the weekend and I can't stop looking at it! It's actually a collection of cards bound in a small folio. This was produced for the 1951 convention of the International Plate Printers, Die Stampers and Engravers Union of North America (IPPDSE) and it's extremely rare.

A little background: The IPPDSE union produced souvenir booklets or cards for most conventions going back to about 1898 when it was called the International Steel & Copper Plate Printers Union. These became more elaborate as the years went on, sometime they were bound with ribbon, sometimes the cards were loosely inserted in a folder. But they were always showpiece examples of the plate printers and engraver's art.

Conventions were held most frequently in New York and Washington, DC, where the most union work was done. Booklets from these conventions tended to illuminate the friendly rivalry between the union members at American Bank Note Co. (NY) and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (DC).

This booklet is from a D.C. convention and six of the nine the intaglio works are by BEP members. I wish I was able to make flat scans of all the pages, but I would have to crease the cards or disassemble the book. Though the cover is a little ragged it did a good job protecting the cards, which are all in good shape.

 

The exquisite portrait of Peter Paul Rubens was cut by master engraver Frederick Pauling, who worked with several bank note firms, as well as the BEP, where he engraved the reverse of the $100,000 note. In 1939 this print hung in the Smithsonian.

I think my favorite of the collection are the four Washington city scenes. These scenes were previously printed in the 1946 convention book and later reprinted in a number of others. Three of the vignettes (but not the Washington Monument) also show up on two early BEP souvenir cards, Sandipex '69 and Fresno '69, in multicolors. Each is a small work of fine art.

Hope you all enjoy a peek at this as much as I do sharing it!

 

For comparison, here is a Sandipex '69 souvenir card showing three of the "city scenes" originally engraved some 20 years prior. I must admit I like the multicolor work on this card, but I think the vignettes in the Union booklet have a sharper look.

 

Just got my catalog yesterday. I believe this is listed as Lot 2546. Very small write-up and everything offered in one massive collection. Sad way to liquidate.

 

I made two great pick-ups in the last couple weeks, both quite scarce cards from the mid-19th century. These are considered forerunner souvenir cards, issued before the advent of "official" cards in 1969. They are both memorial cards, issued by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to commemorate the Congressional memorial services of Lincoln and Garfield. Actually, the Lincoln card was issued in 1866, so it pre-dates the Bureau. Most interesting to me is that parts of both cards also appear on U.S. currency.

The Lincoln card portrait was engraved by Frederich Girsch and the frame was done by Charles Skinner. You'll note the small eagle on the top of the frame -- a re-engraved version appears on the famous "Jackass Notes." The jackass becomes obvious when you flip the image upside down. I initially thought the Lincoln portrait appeared on the 1861 $10 Demand note, produced by the American Bank Note Co. But on close examination this is a subtly different engraving using the same photograph and the card indicates "Engraved and Printed at the Treasury Department." In fact, it was printed in the attic of the Treasury building.

The Garfield card was produced by the BEP in early 1882; the portrait was engraved by Lorenzo Hatch. Soon after, this same portrait appeared on the 1882 $5 National Bank Note. I suspect the card and currency were created at nearly the same time.

Does anyone look at this thread anymore? It would be nice to see more posts than just mine here. ;-)

 

Oh I look at it every time you post
And love the cards your getting I just have had a major slowdown in getting new ones of my own lately.

Those are 2 great pick ups!!

 

Those are brilliant additions! Thanks for the pre-BEP examples and for pairing them with their currency applications.
A great post for this thread!

 

Not that I know any of the circumstances around this, but it seems a tough sell, to have an entire dealer's inventory in one lot, most likely with a huge expected price. I'd think that would put almost anyone out of the bidding, leaving it to one person who manages to snap it up with a large, but still "cheap" price.

Thanks for posting these, gsa, they're always nice to see.

Dave

 

If he has a high reserve then it may not sell at all. Online and mail bidders won't bid without knowing more details. I don't know if there are any other dealers out there looking to increase their inventory. I guess we'll see.

 

I was out of the country for a bit, but finally got around to checking on the final bid was for this collection: $2,400. Not sure if that includes the buyer's premium, but still way too low.

I also discovered a souvenir card collection that I somehow missed later in the catalog. It included 1955 and 1959 Plate Printers convention booklets (see earlier posts) and a number of high value cards. Final hammer: $240! Argh! I'm kicking myself for not bidding on that one.