State of Oregon, Secretary’s Dept. Specimen check, NBNCo 1900

NBNCo + ABNCo imprints, 1909. Beautiful vignettes, crisp condition.

Some people saw the formation of the American Bank Note Company (ABNC) in 1858 as a threat, because a firm formed by the merger of seven companies suggested monopoly. The National Bank Note Company (NBNC) was created (1859) in opposition to the growing ABNC monopoly of the engraving and printing industry. Four principal member employees of Danforth, Perkins and Company resigned when DPC and the six other firms comprising ABNC disagreed about the terms of the merger. The four employees from Danforth, Perkins and Company, two employees from its earlier firm (Danforth, Wright and Company), and three bankers organized NBNC.

NBNC solicited business from banks wanting engraved bank notes, receiving its first order in 1860. It also printed depression scrip notes. In mid-1861, it won a contract to print all U.S. postage stamps, which it held until 1872. The company faced fierce competition from ABNC during this time, and finally capitulated to a consolidation with Continental Bank Note Company and ABNC in 1879.