The Bureau of Engraving and Printing turned to a 1977 souvenir card to produce the "replica note" that is a part of the U.S. Mint's American Buffalo Coinage and Currency set.
The "replica note" is a uniface intaglio print of the face of the Series 1899 $5 silver certificate that previously appeared sans serial numbers on the 1977 American Numismatic Association 86th Anniversary Convention souvenir card.
The special engraving is to be included in the limited-edition offering restricted by the U.S. Mint to 50,000 sets, each set also including an Uncirculated 2001-D American Buffalo silver dollar and two stamps related to the coin's obverse and reverse designs. The stamps are a 10-cent stamp issued from the 1987 Great American Series featuring Red Cloud of the Oglala Sioux, and a 21-cent Bison stamp issued in March 2001 featuring a bison against a sunset background.
Sales of the American Buffalo silver dollars - available in Proof and Uncirculated versions, in a two-coin set and the limited-edition Coinage and Currency set - are scheduled to go on sale by telephone, mail and fax orders on June 7, and over the Mint's Web site beginning at noon June 11. Mint officials expect the authorized mintage of 500,000 silver dollars to quickly sell out.
According to the BEP, which is printing the replicas for the Mint, the printed "notes" represent the same procedures followed when producing a souvenir card.
The replica will be printed on 100 percent rag, acid-free cardstock, the same as used on souvenir cards. The replicas will not bear serial numbers, since they will not be overprinted. They will have blue Treasury and denomination seals.
The replica measures 3.25 inches by 7.5 inches, the same dimensions as genuine large-size silver certificates.
Only the face side of the note will be printed, according to the BEP. The note will not bear any designation that it is a replica. The Mint will place a certificate of authenticity in the packaged sets attesting to the production of the special "notes."
The BEP expects to deliver the replicas to the Mint in early June. The item will not be for sale from the BEP; it is intended for the Coinage and Currency set only, according to the BEP.
The engraving for the Mint, the same used for the ANA, is to be printed from a plate prepared from the original master die, replicating the face of the Series 1899 $5 silver certificate, a classic design.
The American Indian depicted is Ta-to'-ka-in'-yan-ka, who was also known as Chief Running Antelope. Several publications have identified the portrait as "Onepapa." The Bureau of American Ethnology at the Smithsonian Institution, attributes this to a typographical error for "Oncpapa" or Hunkpapa, the tribe of the Sioux to which Running Antelope belonged. This is the only issue of United States paper money for which an Indian was selected as the central feature.
A photograph, taken in 1872 by Alexander Gardner, which is on file at the Smithsonian, was used as a model for the portrait. The only difference between the photograph and the engraved portrait is the war bonnet that was added by the BEP's modeler. G.F.C. Smillie engraved the portrait in 1899.
The set is offered for $54.95 through the pre-issue discount period, which runs through July 25, after which the regular issue price of $59.95 will be charged if any sets remain unsold.
Ordering information for the American Buffalo silver dollar is included in a related story here.
