Modern Stock And Bond Designs

At the turn of the 20th century, securities design had reached its peak, with extraordinary vignettes, attractive frames and ornaments, and outstanding letter engraving. But slowly, over the decades, creativity waned in the design field and by the 1940s and '50s things had become decidedly square (well, nearly).

Then along came the 1960s. Young graphic designers were tossing boring established styles out the window and breaking the mold with their own far-out concepts. It took a few years, but designers at the bank note companies eventually took notice and began to experiment with off-center layouts, lathe work patterns that bled off the edge, and more colorful inks. Vignette engraving suffered during this period, but the overall designs of stocks and bonds gained some flair.

Most companies preferred to stick with the run-of-the-mill stock certificates, with a typical frame with margins and a centered vignette. But those willing to give the designer a bit of latitude often ended up with eye-catching results. Here are some of my favorites.



A good example of how vignette engraving had started to slip


I have to wonder what this ink would look like under a blacklight.