I thought it would be good to broach the topic of the "other" kind of advertising notes - those not made for bank note engraving/lithographing companies, but for all the other types of merchandise and services. There is a good reference for this collecting specialty.
An Illustrated Catalogue of Early North American Advertising Notes by Robert Vlack, 2001. This catalog has 360 pages of black and white images, information, prices, and catalog numbers of Advertising Notes. The catalog numbers are just that, a sequential series from 1 to 6225. The notes are grouped by the state of issue. Advertising notes of printers and engravers number exactly 15. The other 6210 notes advertise everything under the sun to purchase or service to provide that was prevalent during the mid 1800s. All the notes have good sized black & white images of the front and reverse. The printer’s advertising notes include ABNC, Eleazer Huntington, The Graphic Company, Reed-Stiles-Pelton & Co., James E Wilcox, Rawdon-Wright-Hatch & Co., and The New England Bank Note Company. Though out of print, used copies are readily available. I bought mine for about $30.
A rather odd example is shown below. It is cataloged as Vlack-2035, Penny's Receipt for the Cure of Hydrophobia $1, dated 1837. Notice the guy about to slay a rabid dog. Since the cure for rabies wasn't discovered by Louis Pasteur until 1885, this product would have to be called spurious. Vlack valued the note at $70. It sells for $150 or so these days.
