| Description |
Banking House & Counting Room Edition Heath Counterfeit Detector, Newman 2-BH-1Boston and Washington: Heath, 1866 [incorrectly stating Pat'd July 12, 1867 on cover]; Pratt Brothers, Stereotypers and Printers. Second edition. Small 4to, original brown cloth, front cover lettered in gilt. 39, (1) pages; engraved heraldic frontispiece depicting the Treasury building and notable personages; Treasury Department facsimile letter; Heath bank note facsimile plate with number hole-punched as issued; 16 engraved plates of bank notes or elements, with tissue guards, interspersed in the text, comprising impressions of genuine and counterfeit fractional currency notes (Plate 1), 10 engraved plates numbered 2-11 depicting genuine bank note design elements, an impression of a counterfeit $100 First National Bank of Boston note (Plate 12), and four unnumbered plates being impressions of a counterfeit $20 Fourth National Bank of New York note and a counterfeit $10 First National Bank of Philadelphia note, as well as counterfeit 1862 $10 and $50 United States notes. Plate 5 printed in green ink; the full-size counterfeit notes printed in green and black ink and hole-punched as issued. Previous owner's bookplate and stamp. Some signatures sprung; spine chipped. Good. The "second" Banking House and Counting Room Edition is in fact the first edition in this format since, as Newman writes, "Heath himself construed his Pocket Edition to be his first edition for both his Pocket size and his Banking House size publications." Priced at $5.00, as opposed to $1.50 for the pocket first edition, this enlarged and enhanced counterfeit detector was designed for a sophisticated, professional clientele. The text is more detailed and the illustrations are derived solely from federal paper currency. Thus, Newman notes, "the comparison of the same edition of the Banking House size to the same edition of the Pocket size serves little purpose as there are too many differences." Banking House and Counting Room editions are encountered far less frequently than their "Pocket" counterparts and it seems clear that not only were fewer copies originally issued but that they generally saw far heavier use, adversely affecting their survival rate. Estimate $300. Ex: Charles M. Johnson. Ex: Eric P. Newman Numismatic Education Society.
Heritage Auctions 11/2018 (Newman XI), lot15278 (realized $312).
Heritage link: http://www.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=1283&lotIdNo=11161 |
