The 1872 Hidalgo issue marked the end of the earlier period of Mexican stamp production with mostly crude designs and poor printing, and with a distinct Mexican character. On Cinco de Mayo, 1874, the first stamps of a new Hidalgo issue were issued. These stamps were printed in New York by the American Bank Note Company and were professionally engraved on steel plates, with intricate machine turned designs like those on paper currency. In design and execution, this "Bank Note" issue closely resembles contemporary stamps manufactured by United States bank note companies for other Latin American countries such as Argentina and Brazil as well as the United States. Late in 1877, the printing plates were sent to Mexico City, and thereafter the stamps were printed in Mexico. There are a great number of varieties of this issue with differences in the overprints and type of paper and watermarks.