One of the most unique and “fiercest” vignettes appear on the currency note we will look at today as part of our blog series covering Whitman Publishing’s 100 Greatest American Currency Notes. Authors Q. David Bowers and David M. Sundman not only talk us through the design but also the overprint “as a matter of peripheral interest.”
#24 – Dramatic Sea-Adventure Motif “Polar Bear Note”
Several varieties of the Polar Bear Note exist on different denominations. The scene specifically shows a polar bear attempting to board a small boat while seal hunters try to ward off the ferocious beast. In the distance is the larger mother ship. According to authors Bowers and Sundman, the motif was influence by the Kane expedition to the Arctic, which was led by Elisha Kent Kane, and which was ultimately unsuccessful as it searched for the missing British explorer Sir John Franklin.
In other interest of the note is the overprint, which is called Canada Green tint. Patented in 1857, the process makes the ability to photocopy a note nearly impossible as the green imprint would appear as a black blob if attempted. Although patented, it did not, however, mean that the Patent Office officially approved its claims. Despite this, it looked good in an advertising and publicity sense. It was sold to a notable printing and engraving company, and they wasted no time marketing it as a masterpiece.
When the merger of eight different companies occurred in March of 1858 (Edson’s company one of them) to create the American Bank Note Co., they used the Canada Green to print Federal Reserve Notes under a contract.
In 1960, the market value for a vignette of a Polar Bear in Choice Crisp Uncirculated condition was $20. It is now anywhere between $900-$1,800.
