Pennsylvania Currency
March 20, 1771
An emission of £15,000 in bills of credit. The emission was authorized to be used for the defense of Philadelphia but was actually used for paving the streets. To be redeemed from the treasury for current bills of credit. Printed by David Hall and William Sellers in Philadelphia on paper containing mica flakes. Cast border cuts with the Penn family arms on the front and a nature print on the back. Printed in red and black with plates A and B. Throughout the denominations the spelling of the colony name "Pennsylvania" is found in various forms. This is the continuation of an anti-counterfeiting measure used by Franklin and Hall. Denominations issued were: 5s, 10s, 15s and 20s.obv
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20s Plate B Serial Number: 2068 PA 03/20/71
Signers: Stephen Collins, Jacob Shoemaker, Joshua Howell (in red ink).
Size: 90 x 74mm (front border design: 88 x 77mm; back border design: 84 x 70mm).
Comments: Printed in red and black ink. Numbering and first two signatures in black ink; third signature in red ink. No space had been planned for the numbering of the bills. On this example the numbering appears in the upper border design. The Penn family arms with the motto "Mercy Justice" are printed in red in the upper left. Above the arms the denomination is represented in red by four crowns. Colony name appears as "Pennsylvania ". The paper contains blue threads and mica flakes. On the back is a nature print containing three fern branches with XX and the letter S (for shillings) in white at the base of the bottom branch.
Provenance: Purchased through the Robert H. Gore, Jr. Numismatic Endowment from the EANA mail bid auction of 12/2/95, lot 508.
For another example of a 20s note Plate B, serial number 3752, signed by Isaac Cox, Luke Morris and Daniel Roberdeau from the EANA on line auction catalog of April 20, 1966, lot 539. click here for image of the front
