The Homer Lee Bank Note Company was a producer of

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the f ...

s and

currency A currency, "in circulation", from la, currens, -entis, literally meaning "running" or "traversing" is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general ...

and was founded in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

by artist, engraver, and inventor Homer Lee. In 1891, it was absorbed into the

American Bank Note Company ABCorp is an American corporation providing contract manufacturing and related services to the authentication, payment and secure access business sectors. Its history dates back to 1795 as a secure engraver and printer, and assisting the newl ...

. The Homer Lee Company grew in the 1880s and 1890s by producing

engraved Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an in ...

stock and bond certificates, primarily for railroads and mining companies. In 1883, it won the competition to engrave and print the first

postal notes A postal order or postal note is a type of money order usually intended for sending money through the mail. It is purchased at a post office and is payable at another post office to the named recipient. A fee for the service, known as poundage, ...

for the

postal system The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letters, and parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid-19th century, national postal syst ...

during the contract's first four-year period. Both the yellow and the white security papers for these early

money orders A money order is a directive to pay a pre-specified amount of money from prepaid funds, making it a more trusted method of payment than a cheque. History The money order system was established by a private firm in Great Britain in 1792 and was ...

were produced by Crane and Company in

Dalton, Massachusetts Dalton is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts. Dalton is a transition town between the urban and rural portions of Berkshire County. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 6,330 at th ...

. Homer Lee hired Thomas F. Morris, perhaps best known for his later work as the government's Chief of the Bureau of Engraving, from the American Bank Note Company to be his superintendent. The Homer Lee Bank Note Company produced currency and postage stamps for numerous foreign governments before amassing debts and being taken over by the American Bank Note Company in 1891.

References and sources

;References ;Sources
New York Times, September 4, 1883 (New Postal Notes)
{{Postage stamps of the United States Banknotes of the United States Defunct companies based in New York (state) 19th-century establishments in the United States Postage stamps of the United States Printing companies of the United States Banknote printing companies Defunct manufacturing companies based in New York City

See also

References and sources