Colonial Currency

Scope and content:

An excellent catalog of American paper currency from its inception in 1686 to 1789 is Eric P. Newman's The Early Paper Money of America(Racine, Wisc., 1967). Newman noted the distinctiveness of this money: "The early paper money of America has the unique distinction of being the first paper money issued by any government in the Western World. No country, state, or colony in Europe had made a prior issue of publicly sponsored paper money."

This collection includes 27 examples of colonial paper currency from:

  1. Delaware (3), 1746-1759;
  2. Georgia (1), 1774;
  3. Maryland (4), 1767-1770;
  4. North Carolina (13), 1754-1771;
  5. Pennsylvania (6), 1769-1775.

The Delaware bills are notable for having been printed by Benjamin Franklin. An undated bill for 5 shillings from North Carolina is colonial, for the state issued currency in dollars beginning in 1775. This bill is not listed in Newman. It is signed by Thomas Polk (d. 1793), one of the founders of Charlotte and a leading colonial and Revolutionary figure in Mecklenburg County and the state. Signatories of the North Carolina bills include Richard Caswell (1729-1789), first state governor and a member of the Continental Congress (currency of 1768 and 1771).

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