The E-Sylum:  Volume 7, Number 27, July 4, 2004, Article 10

AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY PLATES

  The MPCGram is an email newsletter covering all
  areas of military numismatics.  MPCGram 1148
  (Sunday, June 27, 2004) had the following good news/
  bad news item about the American Bank Note Company
  (reprinted with permission):

  "American Bank Note Company plates are being
  donated to the American Numismatic Association and the
  Smithsonian Institution Numismatic collection by the
  American Bank Note Company. This important donation
  was announced today by Peter Huntoon at a special
  lecture on Sunday evening in Colorado Springs.
  Huntoon who coordinated this donation, explained the
  entire operation to a large, spellbound audience. He
  reported that the ABNC has retired (destroyed)
  hundreds of thousand of plates and proofs over the
  past few years. Huntoon was able to persuade the
  company to donate plates to the two mentioned
  educational numismatic institutions. He even selected
  the materials to be donated. He selected materials
  that would demonstrate the intaglio process rather
  than any particular note, vignette, or certificate.
  Of particular interest to many Gramsters is the
  plate and materials used to print Republic of Vietnam
  10 dong notes

  [The Colorado Springs locations is of course, the
  headquarters of the American Numismatic Association,
  where their Summer Seminar is underway.  The
  following is a continuation fro the MPCGram, an
  Editorial/opinion from MPCGram editor Fred Schwan:
  -Editor]

  As exciting as the ABNC donation is, it is even more
  tragic to think of the plates (and other materials)
  that have been lost forever. It is difficult to imagine the
  quantity of the destroyed materials. Pete stated that a
  squad of people at one plant was given the job of
  destroying accumulated proofs. It took the people three
  YEARS to complete the destruction. Three years. Oh my
  The plates were measured in hundred of tons. In spite
  of the tragedy of the loss, even if the materials could have
  been saved, there probably was no way to do it
  financially."

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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