Post Your New Currency Acquisitions!

I'm an old "softie" for the notes with numerical district numbers; so I try to collect one from each district for each different type of note. I don't worry much about varieties, signature combinations, or such. So as you can see I've got lots of room to venture.

I love that (and aspire to be in the state that) you have so many binders of paper money that you lose track of cool ephemera such as this.

And just think, the plate for the battleship was actually "lost" for 90 years; it was even up for sale on ebay until the Treasury department confiscated it and brought it home to the BEP.

ron - Good eye, clearly the same.

From another forum the story about the BEP plate used for the USS San Diego print.
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Back in 2005, I was surfing ebay for banknote engravings when I came across an item that stopped me in my tracks. It was a large, engraved steel printing plate of a battleship from the 1915 Panama-California Exposition in San Diego. Though it had no insignia, I recognized it as the work of the Bureau of Engraving & Printing. "How is that possible?" I thought, wondering how a federal printing plate made it into private hands. I added it to my Watch list and took a few screen shots (shown here).

And I'm glad I did, because two days later the auction was abruptly terminated. Disappointed, I contacted the seller to find out why. The seller responded: "The Treasury Dept. visited us on Friday and indicated that the plate had been missing from its inventory for decades. It was confiscated. Thus, no plate to sell. Sorry to have disappointed you. We were surprised, to say the least. The plate belonged to a consignor for whom we have sold many items. She is an avid collector and purchased the plate from a dealer some time ago. The interesting thing is that the item has 'floated' around the DC area, from where it was 'borrowed.'"

Some years later, I had a chance to ask someone at the BEP's Historical Research Center the story behind the plate. They confirmed that the plate was made at the Bureau for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition. It was sent on loan, along with several other plates, to the Expo for use on a demonstration press, printing souvenir cards and silk handkerchiefs (like the one below). The other plates made it home but the battleship was never accounted for. It went into hiding for 90 years and eventually ended up on the other side of the country!

Knowing that the plate was back in the Bureau's vault, I suggested it would make a terrific addition to their intaglio print program some day. And in 2015, for the centennial of the 1915 expo, that's exactly what they did. I think it's one of the most attractive souvenir cards the BEP has ever issued ... but I might be a little biased.

Another ebay find while just browsing around:
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Good type note, great low $$$. Now, what to do about the stain in lower right. Hmmm? We'll see.
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Do you collect small size Fed Reserve Notes in any particular fashion? Any significance to these notes? I don't collect small size, other than nationals.