South Carolina Currency
June 1, 1775 - continued
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£20 Serial Number: 2,969 SC 06/01/75
Signers: Thomas Corbett, John Edwards, Aaron Loocock (in brown), Peter Bacot (in red), John Neufville and William Gibbes (the final signature in red is quite faded).
Size: 98 x 154mm.
Comments: Three signatures in black inks, one in brown ink, with the numbering and two signatures in red ink. There are three signatures down the front of the note and three sideways by the seal with the final signature quite faded. This note is indented in the left border. On the front is a seal depicting two hands greeting (shaking) with two palm leaves between them. Above is the motto: "FIDES PUBLICA" (Public trust) with the date 1775 in exergue. Due to a printing error the bottom right corner of the front was not engraved. The engraved back is oriented vertically, with designs and a scroll bearing the motto "For the public good." In the margin (near the "For") is a hand annotation "£ 580" with a word below (Steadman?). Also near the G in "Good" is the handwritten annotation, "V. McCall."
Provenance: Purchased through the Robert H. Gore, Jr. Numismatic Endowment. from the EANA mail bid auction of 09/27/97 lot 223.
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£50 Serial Number: 5,822 SC 06/01/75
Signers: Alexander Moultrie, Benjamin Waring, John Berwick, (at the side) John Neufville and Peter Bacot .
Size: 101 x 163mm. (front border dimensions 98 x 159; back border dimensions 91 x 138mm)
Comments: All signatures and numbering in brown inks. There are three signatures down the front of the note and three sideways by the seal with the final signature quite faded. This note has a full lefy border design at the indent. On the front is a seal (46mm) depicting a woman seated at the water's edge, she is covered in a wrap to protect her from the rain that is comming down. She watches in the distance as the sun comes out over a town at the other shore. In this context it appears the image was to signify the light after a storm. The image of the sun comming out after a storm or rising over a new nation became a popular theme on revolutionaty currency (the MA 1779 emission and the CC $7 note are just a few of the numerous exampes). This is a very early use of that imagery, just six weeks after the Battles of Lexington and Concord. One wonders if during the war some holders of this currency may have interpreted the image as Britannia looking over the Altantic at America? Around the seal is the motto: "POST TENEBRAS LUX" (After darkness there is light) with the date 1775 below. Click here to view a detail of the seal.
The engraved back is oriented vertically, with designs and a scroll bearing the motto "For the public good." There are handwritten annotation on the back: Symthe Feloud to GES at Mr. Alegs (?). In the upper left are the initials: J.M., J.C. and E.D. In the lower left are the numbers 34 over 17 5. The paper is watermarked with an animal head.
Provenance: Purchased through the Robert H. Gore, Jr. Numismatic Endowment. from the EANA mail bid auction of 01/17/98 lot 397.
