Continental Congress Lottery
Examples followed by an explanation.A Ticket from the First Class Lottery: 1778
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Description: Indented ticket number 76m617, Control letter: A. Signed by James Budden, who was one of the lottery directors.
Dimensions: 57mm x 142mm (top to bottom border and inside margin of indent design to border: 48 x119mm)
Comments: The first class lottery drawing was held on May 1- May 27, 1778. Of the 100,000 tickets offered at $10 each, approximately 36,500 were sold. See the introduction to this section for further details. The back of this ticket contains a small doodle. Click here to see the annotated back.
Acquired from the EAHA, March 28, 1998, Mail Bid Auction, Lot 385. Purchased through the Robert H. Gore, Jr., Numismatic Endowment.
For another ticket, number 29m439, Control letter: B. Signed by James Searle, click here. Courtesy of Early American Numismatic Auctions, Inc. Images used with permission from their catalog for the auction of June 8, 1996, lot 401.
A Ticket from the Third Class Lottery: 1780
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Description: Unnumbered remainder ticket with stub, Control letter: E. Signed by George Campbell, who was one of the lottery directors. The stub and indent design area are torn. To view the blank reverse click here.
Dimensions: 55mm x 205mm (top to bottom border and inside margin of indent design to border: 52 x119mm; indent design 21.5mm. across)
Comments: The third class lottery drawing was held from March 1 - April 29, 1780. Of the 100,000 tickets offered at $40 each, approxiately 40,000 were sold, this is one of the some 60,000 unsold remainders.
Provenance: Acquired from the EANA, April 20, 1996, Mail Bid Auction, Lot 623. Purchased through the Robert H. Gore, Jr., Numismatic Endowment.
