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I receive sporadic inquiries about past sales of items from the archives of the American Bank Note Company. The massive archives of this historic engraving company have been parceled out in groups over a period of twenty years (so far!). Each sale has focused on various types of the company's security products:
- stamps (sales in 1988-1990)
- original artwork (sales in 1990)
- paper money (sales in 1990-1991)
- printing plates (sales in 2006-2007)
- vignettes and proof images (sales in 2007)
- stocks and bonds (sales in 2007-2008)
Three major auction houses have been involved in selling off the archives:
- Christie's
- American Numismatic Rarities (later Stack's)
- H.R. Harmer and Archives International
Advanced collectors have generally participated in a few of these sales; few seem to have participated in all.
Currently, the paper money catalogs from Christie's 1990-1991 sales seem to be the most valuable. Harmer's recent catalogs of stocks and bonds are fully illustrated in color and should increase in value in the next couple decades. Most assuredly, these catalogs have become collectible and sought-after in their own right.
With the help the American Numismatic Association library, researchers at Christie's, and collector and librarian David Adams, here is a compilation of the sales that I know of. If you can contribute any additional information, please contact me.
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Items sold:
- proofs of postage stamps from the western hemisphere including British America
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- House: Christie's Robson-Lowe, New York
- Full title: The American Bank Note Company Archives, United States Possessions, Latin America and Worldwide; sold by order of the United States Banknote Corporation
- Date: Sep 12, 1990
- Pages: 202
- Lots:
- Catalog number: 7106
- Other: Sale code = ABN-7106
Items sold:
- lots 1-114: stamps from U.S. possessions (6 color images, 47 B&W images)
- lots 115-690: stamps from Latin America (8 color images, 288 B&W images)
- lots 691-837: stamps from rest of world (4 color images, 50 B&W images)
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- House: Christie, Manson & Woods International Inc., New York
- Full title: Important early American bank notes, 1810-1874, from the Archives of
the American Bank Note Company.
- Date: Sep 14-15, 1990
- Pages: 310
- Lots: 2102
- Catalog number: 7112
- Other: Sale code: ELIZABETH-7112.
Items sold :
- lots 1-2093: proofs and specimens of obsolete United States currency, (49 color images and 230 B&W images)
- lots 2094-2102: miscellaneous, (2 B&W images)
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- House: Christie, Manson & Woods International Inc., New York
- Full title: Important world bank notes and artwork from the archives of the
American Bank Note Company.
- Date: Nov 28-29, 1990
- Pages: 258
- Lots: 1261
- Catalog number: 7166
- Other: Sale code: LEO-7166
Items sold:
- lots 1-79: original art work used in creating engravings, (33 B&W images)
- lots 80-100: sample books, (1 B&W image)
- lots 101-1210: proofs and specimens of foreign paper money (106 color images, 257 B&W images)
- lots 1211-1229: proofs and specimens of U.S. Federal currency
- lots 1230-1261: proofs and specimens of foreign paper money
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- House: Christie, Manson & Woods International Inc., New York
- Full title: Ancient, foreign and United States coins together with bank notes
from the archives of the American Bank Note Company
- Date: Jun 5, 1991
- Pages: 142
- Lots: 915
- Catalog number: 7296
- Other: CHIQUITA-7296
Items sold:
- lots 1-502: coins (560 B&W images, unrelated to ABN archives)
- lots 513-551b: (19 B&W images, unrelated to ABN archives)
- lots 552-577: proofs and specimens of obsolete U.S. currency (12 B&W images)
- lots 578-590:proofs and specimens of U.S. Federal currency (7 B&W images)
- lots 590-910: proofs and specimens of foreign paper money (137 B&W images)
- lots 911-912: books and annual reports
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- House: American Numismatic Rarities, Denver, CO
- Full title: The Old West and Franklinton Collections
- Date: Aug 11, 2006
- Pages:
- Lots:
- Catalog number:
- Other: Coin auction in conjunction with ANA World's Fair of Money; mostly coins, but included the first major sale of ABN printing plates
Items sold:
- lots 992-1115: printing plates from American Bank Note Company and predecessors (all with color images)
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- House: American Numismatic Rarities, New York
- Full title: The Glode Requa Collection and other important properties
- Date: Sep 21, 2006
- Pages:
- Lots:
- Catalog number:
- Other: a typical coin auction, but included ABN printing plates in a section titled "Treasures from the Archives of the American Bank Note Company, part II"
Items sold:
- lots 599-787: printing plates from American Bank Note Company and predecessors (all with color images)
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- House: Stack's and American Numismatic Rarities, Atlanta, GA
- Full title: The Buckhead Sale
- Date: Oct 5, 2006
- Pages:
- Lots:
- Catalog number:
- Other: a typical coin auction, but included ABN printing plates in a section titled "Treasures from the Archives of the American Bank Note Company, part III"
Items sold:
- lots 376-525: printing plates from American Bank Note Company and predecessors (all with color images)
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- House: Stack's, Baltimore, MD
- Full title: The Norweb Collection and other important properties
- Date: Nov 7-8, 2006
- Pages:
- Lots:
- Catalog number:
- Other: a typical coin auction, but included ABN printing plates in a section titled "Treasures from the Archives of the American Bank Note Company, part IV "
Items sold:
- lots 3001-3140: printing plates from American Bank Note Company and predecessors (all with color images)
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- House: H.R. Harmer, Inc., West Caldwell, NJ
- Full title: American Bank Note Company Archives: featuring stock and bond certificates, bank notes and vignettes, vignette books, production material, security printing ephemera and fiscal paper
- Date: Feb 1-2, 2007
- Pages: 469
- Lots: 2361
- Catalog number: 2969
- Other: Described and presented by Archives International
Items sold:
- lots 1-1474: mostly specimens and proofs of mostly U.S. stock and bond certificates (1067 color images)
- lots 1475-2361: specimens and proofs of foreign bank notes and vignettes (937 color images)
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- House: Stack's, Wolfeboro, MA
- Full title: Dutch Auction of American Bank Note Company Plates
- Date: May 13, 2007 to June 18, 2007
- Pages: none
- Lots: ~500
- Catalog number:
- Other: This was an internet-only sale with no auction catalog. Unlike typical sales that American collectors are used to, this was a Dutch auction, meaning that prices started high and if there were no buyers, continued to drop until a buyer was found. Considering the importance of these items to the hobby, it is unfortunate that no printed catalog of these important items was produced.
Items sold:
- unrecorded and now unknown
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- House: Stack's, Baltimore, MD
- Full title: The Brooklyn Sale
- Date: Mar 20-21, 2007
- Pages: 496
- Lots: about 3886
- Catalog number:
- Other: a monstrer coin and paper money sale; session 4 included ABN printing plates in a section titled "Treasures from the Archives of the American Bank Note Company, part V "
Items sold:
- lots 3001-3171 were ABN plates (all color images)
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- House: Stack's, Rosemont, IL
- Full title: The Dr. Tory Prestera Collection and other important properties
- Date: Jun 20-21, 2007
- Pages: 331
- Lots:
- Catalog number:
- Other: a typical coin auction; session 2 contained ABN printing plates
Items sold:
- lots 1001-1165 were ABN plates (all color images)
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- House: Stack's, Atlanta, GA
- Full title: The Capital City Sale
- Date: Oct 11, 2007
- Pages: 248
- Lots: 987
- Catalog number:
- Other: a typical paper money auction, including a large section titled Q. David Bowers Reference Collection - Obsolete Paper Money Part I; also included ABN printing plates in a section titled "Treasures from the Archives of the American Bank Note Company"
Items sold:
- lots 1519-1660 were ABN plates (all color images)
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- House: Stack's, Baltimore, MD
- Full title: The Collection of Samuel J. Berngard and Treasure Coins of the S.S. New York
- Date: Jul 27-28, 2008
- Pages:
- Lots:
- Catalog number:
- Other: dramatic rare coins; large section of fractional currency, also included ABN printing plates in a section titled "Treasures from the Archives of the American Bank Note Company"
Items sold:
- lots 4001-4147 were ABN plates (all color images)
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- House: H.R. Harmer, Inc., Bethel, CT
- Full title: American Bank Note Company Archives, part II: featuring stocks, bonds banknotes, banknote printing plates and production material
- Date: Oct 17-19, 2007
- Pages: 503
- Lots: 2631
- Catalog number: 2978
- Other: Described and presented by Archives International
Items sold:
- lots 1-1338: mostly specimens and proofs of mostly U.S. stock and bond certificates (most lots with color images)
- lots 1339-1862: specimens and proofs of U.S. bank notes, vignettes and ephemera (most lots with color images)
- lots-1863-2631, foreign bank notes, printing plates, and production ephemera (most lots with color images)
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- House: H.R. Harmer, Inc., Bethel, CT
- Full title: American Bank Note Company Archives, part III: U.S. and worldwide banknotes, stocks, bonds and security printing ephemera
- Date: Jun 2-4, 2008
- Pages: 503
- Lots: 2816
- Catalog number: 2985
- Other: Described and presented by Archives International
Items sold:
- lots 5200-6334: specimens and proofs of U.S. stocks and bonds (most lots with color images)
- lots 6335-6616: vignettes and security printing ephemera (most lots with color images)
- lots 6617-7815: specimens and proofs of worldwide bank notes (most lots with color images)
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