About the artist:

The more than 200-year history of the American Bank Note Company is well-known to Stamp, Currency and Scripophily collectors. What may not be as well-known is the small subsidiary company, American Bank Note Commemoratives. For five years, beginning in 1990, this division was exclusively represented by Paul W. Schmid, Inc. A long-time professional philatelist, Mr. Schmid was in a truly unique position with regards to the steel archives held by ABN. Working closely, with Aurelia Chen, the ABN archivist, Mr. Schmid had virtually unlimited access to the thousands of steel plates and dies held in their Pennsylvania vaults at Horsham and Philadelphia, and was able to create an entirely new line of engraved commemorative products from this remarkable holding. Under his direction, the company continued to produce the Archive Series, a collection of engraved panels that featured some of most beautiful vignettes held by ABN. It was a series that drew on the more than 10,000 original dies, many of them created by the foremost engravers of the era. Prior to Mr. Schmid’s involvement with the company, ABNC had also begun to produce souvenir cards for a limited number of coin and paper money shows. Under his stewardship, the number of cards produced increased and expanded to include philatelic as well as numismatic cards. Historians are well aware of ABN’s rich history as it relates to stamp production. Predecessor companies that would eventually become part of ABN included Rawdon, Wright, Hatch and Edson (producers of this country’s first stamps in 1847), Toppan Carpenter and National Bank Note Company. It was under Schmid’s guidance that ABNC set up an original, hand-operated spider press at coin and stamp shows around the country, and in the process of demonstrating early printing techniques created collectible products available to the public for the first time. Another major program during this period was the production of the American Paper Money Collection, an assemblage of individual Obsolete or "Broken" bank notes printed by ABN. A single banknote from each state in the country that was known, was printed from the original steel plates. Schmid, with the help of world-renowned expert Gene Hessler, selected notes for their beauty, history and rarity. Many notes had never even been seen by collectors prior to this collection’s release.