Nature print

An engraving technique that reproduces the actual texture of a leaf or other organic object pressed into the plate. Benjamin Franklin and, later, Hall and Sellers used it on colonial paper and on Continental Currency as an anti-counterfeiting device that was hard to replicate by hand; the back of this collection’s 1779 Continental $5 carries a leaf nature print.

See also: Intaglio / chalcography , Intaglio printing , Bills of credit