American Bank Note Company Office Building

History and architecture

The American Bank Note Company Office Building is a distinctive, neo-Classical structure which was built in 1907-08 as the corporate, administrative, and sales headquarters for this important, yet little-known company. Created from the merger of several bank note engraving firms in 1858, the American Bank Note Company became, by the late nineteenth century, one of America’s most prominent producers of bank notes, stamps, stock certificates, and letters of credit.

The American Bank Note Company had located in lower Manhattan because of its need to be near major financial institutions. After outgrowing several smaller quarters, the firm subdivided its operations, building this headquarters on Broad Street and several years later, a modern printing plant in the Bronx. Both were designed by the architectural firm of Kirby, Petit & Green. The American Bank Note Company Office Building is a five-story structure on a narrow lot bounded by three streets.

Its overscaled columns, continuous window bays,and classical carving created a striking corporate image for an unusual manufacturing firm.

The American Bank Note Company has long dominated the specialized field of security engraving.1 This company was formed in 1858 as the result of the merger of seven major note engraving companies. The printing of bank notes is a unique type of printing started during the early nineteenth century by several companies which produced paper currency for the large number of newly-established state banks. Because of the need to protect documents against counterfeiting and to prevent any losses during the course of printing and issue, the production of securities and currency differed from other types of printing.

In order to produce documents that could not be easily replicated, the American Bank Note Company manufactured its own machinery and inks, developed specialized printing methods and unusual types of paper, and used vignettes and other complex designs produced by highly skilled engravers. As the preeminent security engraving firm during the nineteenth century, the American Bank Note Company produced bank notes, postage and revenue stamps, bonds, stock certificates, checks, drafts, and letters of credit for many governments and institutions.

In 1891 the American Bank Note Company began producing the American Express Company's new "Travelers Cheques."