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Figure 15. Die proof of Giuseppe Garibaldi, engraved by William F. Ford
for the American Bank Note Company in 1944. The issue of notes by
American Bank Note for which this portrait was prepared never occurred.
(enlarged)
An interesting and unusual portrait of World War II vintage,
our next “what might have been,” is Giuseppe Garibaldi (Figure
15), also done by William F. Ford in 1944 for a possible Bank of
Italy issue that ended up being printed in Italy rather than in the
U.S. American Bank Note engraving records show the original
order was dated 26 May, 1944, and the Garibaldi portrait was
approved on 11 August, 1944. Ford engraved it in June and July,
1944. The complicated story of this order that was later cancelled
may be found in Soldi di d’Italia, Guido Crapanzano’s 1995
book on Italian bank notes, though the dates he gives and Ford’s
involvement don’t seem to quite fit the engraving record dates.
The last “what might have been” story for this article takes
us to the Philippines. Joseph Poveromo, one of the younger
engravers at American Bank Note, engraved a good portrait
of Apolinario Mabini (Figure 16). When I started this article
I assumed that this portrait was engraved around the period
1948–1950, when the first new, primary post-war Philippines
currency was done. But Poveromo would have been too junior
to have done it then, and after consulting the engraving records
I saw that it was approved January 16, 1958, on an American
Bank Note “stock” order from 1956. “Stock” does not refer to
stocks and bonds, but rather, “stock” as in putting the portrait
into their stock of portraits. Interestingly, the engraving record
card notes that the original photograph (from which the portrait
was engraved) was “returned to Broad Street 7/8/52” (“Broad
Street” being 70 Broad Street in New York City, American Bank
Figure 16. Die proof of Apolinario Mabini, engraved by Joseph Poveromo
for the American Bank Note Company in 1957. The portrait was never used.
(enlarged)
Note’s headquarters at that time), indicating that American either
likely bid or considered bidding on the Philippines notes of 1949.
Having Joe Poveromo engrave Mabini’s portrait was probably
a combination of practice for a younger engraver and a desire
to have a bit of an advantage on future Philippine bank note
orders. However, American Bank Note never produced notes for
the Philippines, and Poveromo’s engraving became part of “what
might have been.”
Other examples of “what might have been” in bank note
engraving exist, and I may eventually add to the record of this
interesting but little-known aspect of bank note work.
Anyone with comments or questions on this article may
contact the author at mntomasko@att.net.
Sources:
Murray Teigh Bloom’s The Brotherhood of Money; George Cuhaj’s
Standard Catalog of World Bank Notes, Vol. II; Gene Hessler’s The
Engravers Line; Guido Crapanzano’s Soldi di d’Italia; Gordon
Beckles’ Coronation Souvenir Book 1937; Walter Allan’s “Essays
and Proofs for the 1935 Bank of Canada Issue” in the 1993 issue
of The Canadian Paper Money Journal; and engraving records and
information in the possession of the author. All illustrations are
from the author’s collection.
50 IBNS Journal 48.2