American Bank Note Company

Images are representative of the piece you will receive Over 50 years old Common stock 1950's (orange) 1930's (brown) 1920's and 1940's (olive) Issued, canceled American Bank Note Company (of course) Machine printed signatures 12 1/4" (w) by 8 1/4" (h) NA Historical Context The huge American Bank Note Company was formed from an association of seven competing companies in 1858 (Rawdon, Wright, Hatch & Edson; Toppan, Carpenter & Co; Danforth, Perkins & Co; Bald, Cousland & Co; Jocelyn, Draper, Welsh & Co; Wellstood, Hay & Whiting; John E. Gavit). In 1879, it merged with the National Bank Note Company and the Continental Bank Note Company. In 1911, it merged with the United Bank Note Company. These acquisitions and mergers continued as the ABN became the largest producer of financial paper in the world. Because it employed the finest engravers, the images that ABNCo offered were of the highest and most durable quality. It created thousands of classic images after 1858, but continued to use images from all its ancestral companies. That is why you will find identical vignettes on many diffferent certificates with different engraving company imprints. Unfortunately for the company, paper stock and bond certificates were eventually supplanted by electronic trading. By the 1990s, all but a tiny percentage of security ownership had become a matter of electronic record. By 1999, the amount of global security and bank note printing had dropped so precipitously that the company ultimately had to declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Related Collections