Pmg graded obsolete with.....????????

DontTellTheWife

Anyone seen this type of setup before??

What would you call the additional item?

Picture, print, vignette??

Are the common, scarce?

I could not find any like comparables regardless of note

Thanks for your thoughts!!

sellitstore

It's an obsolete bank note with a matching die proof vignette, from the 1850s.

Die proof vignettes are part of the process of making a bank note as design elements are engraved separately and then combined to make a printing plate, much the same way that hubs and punches were used to make coin dies. Die proofs exist from the obsolete period (early 1800s) to fairly modern times. Most 20th century die proofs were used on stocks and bonds, rather than currency. Die proofs for vignettes used on early US Federal currency are among the most collectible and typically sell from a few hundred dollars for vignette proofs to thousands of dollars for partial or completed proof notes of popular designs, like the Educational notes of 1896.

Die proofs were made for approval purposes and also sometimes for presentation books and displays. They are usually printed on India paper, a thin and porous paper that produced sharp impressions. Some of the earlier die proofs are rare with fewer than ten produced but some of the more popular ones may have been produced in quantities of up to 50-100. There are probably several thousand different die proofs designs in existence. Most of them sell for less than $50.

I recently bought this die proof because it depicts the original Croton Dam and was used on the Bank of Sing Sing $100 notes used during the 1850s. It cost only $23 with shipping.