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2 Dollars Silver Certificate, 'Educational Series'
| Issuer | United States Treasury |
|---|---|
| Year | 1896 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Engraver(s) | Obverse: Charles Schlecht, George Frederick Cumming Smillie Reverse: Lorenzo James Hatch |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | THIS CERTIFIES THAT THERE HAVE BEEN DEPOSITED IN THE TREASURY OF THE 2 UNITED STATES 2 TWO SILVER DOLLARS PAYABLE TO THE BEARER ON DEMAND WASHINGTON D.C. ACT OF AUGUST 1886 |
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| Reverse lettering | 2 UNITED STATES 2 THIS CERTIFICATE IS RECEIVABLE FOR CUSTOMS TAXES AND ALL PUBLIC DUES AND WHEN SO RECEIVED MAY BE REISSUED |
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| Comments |
The Educational Series of 1896 was the last genuine attempt by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to produce American currency as high art. Edwin Blashfield was a muralist working in the tradition of the American Renaissance, and the BEP recruited him specifically to design allegorical compositions worthy of intaglio reproduction — an unusually ambitious brief for a government printer. The series was killed almost immediately by public complaint: too elaborate, too allegorical, and the reverse portraits of historical figures were considered by contemporary critics to be rendered unflattering to the point of disrespect.
Charles Schlecht and G.F.C. Smillie engraved the face. Smillie in particular was the BEP's finest portraitist of the period, and his involvement on a non-portrait subject says something about how seriously the bureau took this commission.