The cards in this category are without a doubt the rarest souvenir cards listed in the SCCS catalog. Each of them was printed in very limited quantities (sometimes less than 50) and sold or given out only at stamp and coin shows, typically by raffle. Nearly all are numbered and signed by the pressman who printed them. These cards are associated with the antique hand-operated presses that the BEP and ABNC brought to shows for demonstrations, although these cards were generally printed before the show. They are sometimes called hand-pulled proofs; however, the term "proof" is inaccurate, since they were made for public distribution. The designs usually match the standard-issue cards, often differing only by the ink color or the size of the paper. For that reason, most were given the catalog number of the standard card with an "A" suffix.

From 1989 to 1995, the American Bank Note Company had a presence at major stamp and coin shows, frequently bringing a demonstration spider press, much like the BEP did. At many shows, ABNC raffled cards printed on the press, but some years they produced specially embossed cards, crimped with an antique hand embosser. These "Certificate for Collectors" embossings are quite rare: often 20 or fewer were made. They differ only from standard cards by a hand-printed serial number, rather than machine stamped. Technically, these are not spider press cards, but we include them here as similar special editions. Special thanks to Art Benjamin, Paul Melnick, Harry Corrigan, and Tom Lynch for many of these images.