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The American Bond Detector; and Complete History of the United States Government Securities; issued under the sanction of the United States Treasury Department, and containing superb illustrations, in genuine tints…
Washington, D.C.: American Bond and Currency Detector Co., 1869. Oblong 4to (9.5” x 13”), original green cloth, title in gold on front cover, both covers with blind-stamped borders. [vi], [1]-100 pp., 22 engraved plates of American banknotes (some color), and 9 chromolithographed and embossed plates of coins in gold, silver & copper tints. CONDITION: Very good, exterior mildly worn, repair to inner hinges with some residue of adhesive visible, volume generally sound, one tissue guard detached, another nearly detached, silver “coins” darkened, a few short tears to plates, but confined to margins. The first and only edition of this marvelous compendium of engraved and chromolithographic plates offering a “correct method” for detecting counterfeits, including twenty-two engraved full-page plates of American bonds (some in color), and nine plates of U.S. and foreign coins. The intent of this work was to furnish "bankers and the public with a positive and permanent basis for testing the genuineness of their bonds, and for the dissemination of information believed to be of the first importance for the protection alike of individuals and the government.” Included are reproductions of government bonds, as well as coins from the Americas, Britain and Europe. The former consist of twenty-two engraved plates of U.S. government bonds and bond features which were printed from the original plates by the Treasury Department (all issued between 17 July 1861 and 3 March 1868). The latter are nine chromolithographed and embossed plates of American, European, Central and South American coins. Detailed descriptions of the bonds are provided, as well as essential details to aid in the detection of counterfeits. The text covers subjects such as “The Process of Engraving and Printing Bonds, Notes, etc”; “Counterfeit Coupons”; “Ancient Coins and Coinage”; “Modern Coins and Coinage”; “Joseph Jenks, the Coiner of the Pine Tree Shilling”; “The System of National Banks,” by Hon. E.G. Spaulding; “Casilear’s Method of Preventing the Alteration or Addition of figures or numbers upon Bonds, Notes, etc.”; “Description of the United States Treasury Building”; “Official Debt-Statement of the United States, September 1, 1869,” etc. This is the sole work of its kind ever produced—due to the Treasury Department refusing to authorize any further use of its security dies. The publishers here take measures against possible misuses of these plates by placing a small V-shaped section of mutilation on each plate. Laban Heath also authored Heath's Infallible Counterfeit Detector (1864).
Item #10500
Price: $5,000.00
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