Description and research notes
This engraved test note by the American Bank Note Company (ABNCo) represents one of the firm’s most enduring demonstration designs, known as the 'Series of 1929' specimen. Although dated 1929, these were printed decades later—primarily in the 1960s and 1970s—as house proofs and sales samples showcasing engraving precision, watermark technology, and later innovations such as foil-thread anti-counterfeiting devices.
The layout follows classic ABNCo symmetry: a central allegorical portrait of Liberty, derived from earlier U.S. and Latin American banknote masters, framed by intricate guilloche borders and flanked by denomination counters reading '10.' The surrounding frame bears the inscriptions 'American Bank Note Company' and 'Specimen Note,' while the lower border substitutes the standard signatures with engraved placeholders labeled 'Treasurer' and 'President.'
The green intaglio printing on high-grade security paper features both a watermark and a segmented metallic foil thread—features that illustrate ABNCo’s transitional work between traditional intaglio techniques and the emerging security standards of modern polymer and thread-based paper. Despite the absence of a true monetary denomination, these '10 Unit' designs allowed clients and government agencies to evaluate printing quality, tactile texture, and security options.
Issued as part of ABNCo’s test and marketing program, such notes were distributed to central banks, treasury departments, and commercial clients worldwide as reference pieces. Their 'Series of 1929' label recalls the last great year of pre-Depression currency art while simultaneously demonstrating the company’s technological continuity into the modern era.
Certified PMG 66 EPQ Gem Uncirculated, this example is perfectly centered, crisply inked, and fully embossed. It remains one of the cleanest representations of American Bank Note Company’s mid-20th-century engraving excellence and its influence on global security printing standards.