Some Specimen Stocks And Bonds

In a lucky coincidence, I was able to purchase the steel die with the vignette of the oil derrick from this stock certificate! You'll notice the image is reversed.

The plate is just over 3/16" thick and weighs It looks to be in pretty good shape for its age -- a spot of corrosion, but not close to the engraving. I have a friend who has a spider press and I'm going to have him pull a few intaglio prints to see if they come out okay. I'll post the results. Fingers crossed!

This one doesn't have the typical markings of a specimen, but you'll note it has no serial number, which is a tip-off. The other indicator is the manuscript under the vignette. Here's my interpretation:

Vault 228-2 (where the printing plate was stored); 2 on (probably indicating these were printed in pairs); less 100 (the plate was to be printed on a certificate frame for "Less Than 100 shares").

Very nice!