American Bank Note Company
| Industry | Printing |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1795 (as Murray, Draper, Fairman & Company) |
| Headquarters | Fort Lee, New Jersey |
|
Key people
|
Keith Goldstein, CEO US Operations Bud Kronenberg CEO Canadian Operations |
| Parent | ABNote North America |
| Website | Official website |
The American Bank Note Company was a major worldwide engraver of national currency and postage stamps. Currently it engraves and prints stock and bond certificates. It is based in Fort Lee, New Jersey.
Robert Scot, the first official engraver of the young U.S. Mint, began the company that would eventually grow into the nation’s premier high security engraving and printing firm, the American Bank Note Company.
Founded in 1795 as Murray, Draper, Fairman & Company (after Scot's three partners), the company prospered as the young United States population expanded and financial institutions blossomed. Its products included superior quality and bond certificates, paper currency for the nation’s thousands of state-chartered banks, postage stamps (from 1879 to 1894), and a wide variety of other engraved and printed items.
Following the Panic of 1857, seven of the nation’s most prominent security printers merged to form the American Bank Note Company on April 29, 1858. The new company made New York City its headquarters. Less than two years later, a handful of the remaining independent bank note printers merged to form the National Bank Note Company.
To be close to the stock exchanges, brokerage firms, and banks in lower Manhattan, the American Bank Note Company established its New York City headquarters in the Merchants Exchange Building at 55 Wall Street. The company moved its office and plant to 142 Broadway (at the corner of Liberty Street) in 1867, to another new facility at 78–86 Trinity Place in 1882, and again to 70 Broad Street in 1908.
The first paper currency was circulated by the US Treasury Department following the outbreak of the Civil War. Congress passed authorizing legislation for $60 million worth of these “Demand Notes” on July 17 and August 5, 1861. Under contract with the government, the novel paper money, called “greenbacks” by the public, was produced by the American Bank Note Co. and the National Bank Note Co. A total of 7.25 million notes were produced in denominations of $5, $10, and $20. In an interesting historical sidelight, American and National were also producing paper money for the Confederacy at the same time.
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Wikipedia