Pennsylvania Currency
May 20, 1758
An emission of £100,000 in legal tender bills of credit to support military expenditures associated with the French and Indian War. The bills were to be valid until March 1, 1764. This emission and the four previous emissions (from January 1, 1756; October 1, 1756; March 10, 1757 and July 1, 1757) were to be redeemed through taxes rather than through the Pennsylvania Land Office Loan Program (see the introductory essay on Land Office Banks for details on this program). There are four border cuts and the Penn family arms on the front. The four lower denominations have blank backs while the four higher denominations have and a nature print with typeset borders on the back. Printed by Benjamin Franklin and David Hall in Philadelphia. The four higher denominations have both plates A and B with the spelling of the colony name "Pennsylvania" differing by denomination (as "Pensilvania" on the 5s, "Pennsilvania" on the 10s, the correct spelling on the 15s and "Pensylvania" on the 20s notes). It is thought Franklin did this as an anti-counterfeiting device. Denominations issued were: 1s, 18d, 2s, 2s6d, 5s, 10s, 15s and 20s.obv
rev
20s Plate B Serial Number: 29,046 PA 05/20/58
Signers: James Child, Thomas Yorke and James Benezet.
Size: 88 x 70mm (borders trimmed).
Comments: Note the use of XX in the center and throughout the right half of the upper border cut on the front. The Penn family arms appear on the front in the center left, above the denomination is keyed to four crowns. The colony name appears as "Pensylvania ". On the back there is a crown in each corner to denote the denomination as four crowns (the 5, 10 and 15s notes have 1-3 crowns below Hall's name). Nature print of three fern branchs on the back were first used on the January 1, 1756 issue. Printed by Benjamin Franklin and David Hall.
Provenance: Purchased through the Robert H. Gore, Jr. Numismatic Endowment from the EAHA mail bid auction of 11/1/97, lot 311.
