Late Finish Back Plates #637 (collection)
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All three bills (United States Note, Silver Certificate, Federal Reserve Note) use back plate #637
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Backplate 637 entered routine service producing sheets on June 23, 1945, and supplied a steady stream of sheets until June 2, 1949. During that time those sheets were mated with a host of $5 silver certificates, legal tender, and federal reserve note faces to create a plethora of rare varieties.
Five-dollar back plate 637 spent most of its life as a master plate that directly and indirectly fathered all small-size twelve-subject $5 back plates made between 1935 and 1951. It was the most important plate of its era. The design it carried was rendered obsolete in 1951 when back plates with new designs began to be made. Originally, back 637 had been used to impart a previous design change to $5 backs.
Backplate 637 was retired as a master plate in 1943 and saved as an economic measure. The following year it was salvaged and certified as a production plate on November 10, 1944. Plate serial number 637 was etched into each subject in micro-size numerals similar to those used on plates finished prior to January 1938. The plate met its demise five years later when it was canceled on June 14, 1949, fourteen years after it was made.
Images sourced from "https://s3.amazonaws.com/pmarchives.spmc/pm299-2015-enduring-allure-5-micro-back-plates-629-and-637.pdf"
