The American Bond Detector; And Complete History of the United States Government Securities; Issued Under The Sanction Of The United States Treasury Department…

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oblong folio. pp. 2 p.l., 100. 22 engraved plates of American bank notes (some colour) & 9 chromolithographed & embossed plates of coins in gold, silver & copper metallic tones. new half calf, original cloth from front cover bound in (paper lightly embrowned, light soiling or foxing to some plates). First Edition. The plates of the bonds were printed at the Treasury Department from the original dies in the possession of the government and show all of the bonds issued under the Acts of Congress from July 17, 1861, to March 3, 1868. The descriptive text includes important details to aid in the detection of counterfeits. Also included are nine chromolithographed and embossed plates in metallic tones showing the obverse and reverse of different denominations of gold, silver, and copper American and international coins. This is the only work of its type ever produced due to the fact that the Treasury Department refused to authorize any further use of its security dies. The intent 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". The publishers have carefully guarded their plates from the liability of any possible transfer or misuse by the adoption of a small segmented mutilation in the form of the letter V. Authorship has been attributed to both Nehemiah George Ordway, who is listed on the verso of the title as having filed for copyright, and to Laban Heath, who wrote Heath s Infallible Counterfeit Detector (1864). Seller Inventory # elala3616

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