Bank Notes and Related Graphic Arts from the Collections of Vsevolod Onyshkevych and Princeton University – August 30, 2010, to January 2, 2011

Paper money as a form of art might seem the makings of a rather small exhibition, to judge from the modern bills of the United States and Europe. Bank notes, however, have constituted one of the dominant forms of visual communication for the past two centuries, and in many cases can be seen as works of art in their own right. Princeton University’s Numismatic Collection is featuring currency worth looking at in the exhibition “Money on Paper” on view in the August 30, 2010, through January 2, 2011.

New Jersey, 1 shilling, December 31, 1763.
Printed by James Parker, Woodbridge.

Because British colonial policies resulted in a dearth of circulating coins, the American colonies were the home of the earliest regular issues of paper money. Illustration was applied to colonial currency as an anti-counterfeiting device as well as for aesthetic purposes. Not surprisingly, the most inventive printer of paper money of the time was Benjamin Franklin, who devised a system of transferring the vein patterns of tree leaves to printing plates to foil counterfeiters. The Princeton exhibition includes a large selection of Franklin’s nature-print notes, as well as issues of Paul Revere and the South Carolina engraver Thomas Coram, who brought classical imagery to that colony’s bank notes.

One of the highlights of the exhibit will be the first public display of the recently discovered banknote engraving of a grouse by John James Audubon, the great wildlife illustrator’s first published work. On display with a sample sheet containing the vignette will be an original watercolor by Audubon, a steel printing plate from The Birds of America, and the Princeton first edition of the elephant folio book open to the page with Audubon’s drawing of the pinnated grouse.

Asher B. Durand, one of America’s greatest painters, was also a major figure in the development of bank note art in this country. Along with his brother Cyrus, who invented a highly decorative series of anti-counterfeiting devices, he developed a classical, patriotic approach to bank note design that dominated the medium for the first half of the nineteenth century.

Montgomery $1,000
Confederate States of America, $1,000, Montgomery, May 22, 1861.
Portraits of John C. Calhoun and Andrew Jackson.

A section of the Princeton exhibit will explore the divergence of imagery on the bank notes of northern and southern issuers before and during the Civil War. Collectors of paper money will be especially interested by the complete set, in Extremely Fine condition, of six notes printed by the National Bank Note Company in New York and smuggled into the Confederacy in 1861 for distribution as notes of Montgomery, Alabama, and Richmond, Virginia. The American section of the exhibition ends with the high point of American bank note art, the Educational Series of 1896, designed and engraved by some of the most important illustrators of the day. (more…)

One of the most iconic and best-known objects’ at the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum was taken. The gold bar came from a 1622 shipwreck that Fisher discovered.

The Mel Fisher Maritime Museum in Key West, Florida holds the richest single collection of 17th-century maritime and shipwreck antiquities in the Western Hemisphere, including treasures and artifacts from the Atocha and Santa Margarita.

It was reported that two thieves entered a museum shortly after closing at 5PM and stole a 74.85-ounce, 11-inch (28-centimeter) gold bar which was inside a glass display case with a small opening where visitors could stick a hand inside and lift the bar to examine it.

Photo Credit: Miami Herald/Florida Keys News Bureau

Police and the FBI are working to identify the suspects who took the gold bar which had been on display for more than 20 years. Surveillance captures caught the faces of these two men, believed to be the suspects who walked off with the gold bar.

According to Alyson Crean, Key West Police spokeswoman, one suspect is described as a white male, about six feet tall with dark hair and a medium build. The second suspect is about five feet, six inches tall.

Anyone with information about these men should contact the Key West Police Department at (305) 809-1111.

The Gold bar has an estimated value of $550,000 and the Museums insurance company is offering a $10 thousand reward.

“Everybody who comes to the museum is encouraged to lift the gold bar and to have a firsthand experience with history,” said Melissa Kendrick, the museum’s executive director. “This is one of the most iconic and best-known objects in the museum.”

“The security systems worked because we knew the bar was stolen within 10 minutes, and we have usable video and photos for law enforcement,” Kendrick said. “The museum made a decision to designate this as a handling object, allowing people to touch the artifact, and this was part of the risk involved in granting public access.”

More than 1,100 of the nation’s best coin dealers with the best inventory of coins, paper money, medals, tokens and other numismatic items will gather in Boston August 10-14 at the Hynes Convention Center for the largest coin show in the world.

Sponsored by the nonprofit American Numismatic Association, the show will feature museum-quality exhibits from the Smithsonian Institution, the ANA Edward C. Rochette Money Museum and private collectors. As many as 20 mints from around the world will give visitors an opportunity to collect coins from five continents, and a number of family activities and educational programs make this an attractive event for anyone with an interest in history and money.

The Bebee Collection of United States Paper Money. A spectacular and comprehensive view of United States paper money. The 904 notes in the complete collection include a remarkable series of high-grade large-size national bank notes from virtually every state and territory. A wide range of the premier specimens will be on display in Boston.

The 1874 Bickford $10 Patterns:From the Collection of Bob R. Simpson. This exhibit features a complete set of 1874 Bickford patterns struck at the Philadelphia Mint as part of a proposed plan for an international coinage. The exhibit includes seven Bickford patterns comprising Simpson’s signature set, as well as two duplicates to allow for side-by-side viewing of obverse and reverse.

The Smithsonian Institution’s “Good as Gold: exhibit America’s Double Eagles” The exhibit tells the story of the $20 gold coin, the largest gold coin to circulate in the United States. Rarities on display include 20 coins from the Smithsonian Institution’s National Numismatic Collection, including the first (1849 pattern) and last (1933) double eagles ever produced as well as a 1907 Saint-Gaudens ultra high relief pattern that President Theodore Roosevelt gave his daughter Ethel as a Christmas gift in 1907.

The Ship of Gold exhibit displaying Gold Rush-era sunken treasure from the 1857 shipwreck of the SS Central America will be in Boston courtesy of Monaco Rare Coins. Highlights include a Kellogg & Humbert ingot – the largest surviving gold ingot of the California Gold Rush, 13 octagonal $50 gold pieces produced by the U. S. Assay Office of San Francisco and remains of a wooden cargo box still containing approximately 110 double eagles.

Mexico, 1810 & 1910: Coins of the War of Independence & the Mexican Revolution An exhibit that celebrates the 200th anniversary of the beginning of the Mexican War for Independence and the 100th anniversary of the Mexican Revolution. This marks the first time since the early 1970s that any part of Banco de México’s extensive historical collection has been displayed in the United States.

Coin Rarities, Paul Revere Silver & Rare Broadside of the Declaration of Independence. From the collection of Brian Hendelson, the first-ever display of a 1861 Philadelphia Mint Paquet reverse gold double eagle and 1921 Proof Roman Finish Saint-Gaudens double eagle. Each coin is one of two known specimens, and each is the finer-known specimen. The Paquet $20 was once owned by Egypt’s King Farouk and Ambassador and Mrs. R. Henry Norweb, while the 1921 proof was not known to exist until 2006. (more…)