South Carolina Currency
December 23, 1776
An emission of $308,000 (£500,500) in bills of credit entitling the bearer to exchange them for Spanish milled dollars or an equivalent value of gold or silver. Each denomination has a different vignette with a motto taken from the books of J.C. Weigels, Nicholas Verien and Joachim Camerarius. There are wood cut borders on the front giving the value of the note in dollars and pounds. The reverse was typeset using Greek and Hebrew letters as ornaments, they are found near the denomination designation. The notes were printed in 1777 in Charleston by Peter Timothy on a thick brown paper. There were five signers but several partially signed unissued remainders exist as the examples shown below. Denominations issued were: $1 (£1 23s6d), $2 (£3 5s), $3 (£4 17s6d), $4 (£6 10s), $5 (£8 2s6d), $6 (£9 15s), $8 (£13) and $20 (£32 10s).obv
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$1 Serial Number: not numbered SC 12/23/76
Signer: James Wakefield.
Size: 75 x 111mm (obverse border design, 71 x 108mm; reverse border design, 64 x 100mm).
Comments: This is an unnumbered and only partially signed remainder. The note is denominated as both on Spanish milled dollar as at £1 12s6d. The front contains four border cuts and a seal. The 30mm seal depicts a tree growing through a rock on top of a hill with the motto: ". PER . ARDUA . SURGO ." (I rise up through difficulty). This is a pun on the Latin word arduum which means both a high place and a difficult task. The reverse contains typeset borders and four Hebrew letters in the corners of the center block as anti counterfeiting devices. Also, the letter m in Timothy has been set upside down.
Provenance: Purchased through the Robert H. Gore, Jr. Numismatic Endowment from the EANA mail bid auction of 01/17/98, lot 403.
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$2 Serial Number:983 SC 12/23/76
Signers: James Fisher, William Price, Thomas Jones, Edward Blake.
Size: 74 x 112mm (obverse border design, 71 x 106mm; reverse border design, 60 x 97mm).
Comments: This appears to be a partially signed and numbered remainder. Fully issued notes have five signatures. The note is denominated as both two Spanish milled dollars as at £3 5s. The front contains four border cuts and a seal. The 29mm seal depicts a rooster with the motto: " . ET . SOLI . ET . MARTI . " (For the sun and for Mars). The reverse contains typeset borders and four Hebrew letters in the corners of the center block as anti counterfeiting devices. The obverse of the first issues had the year as 1777, the plate was corrected so later issues, as the one above, bear the correct year.
Provenance: Purchased through the Robert H. Gore, Jr. Numismatic Endowment from the R.M. Smythe Chicago Paper Money Auction of 2/17/2000, lot 1034, graded as extremely fine.
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$3 Serial Number: 1099 SC 12/23/76
Signer: James Wakefield.
Size: 70 x 107mm (obverse border design, 69 x 107mm; reverse border design, 59 x 96mm).
Comments: This is a partially signed remainder, the numbering appears to have been added at a later date. The note is denominated as both one Spanish milled dollar as £4 17s6d. The front contains four border cuts and a seal. The 29mm seal depicts what appears to be a tree stump. Newman calls this an oracle without explanation. The motto reads: " : FATA . VIAM . INVENIENT ." (The fates will find a way). The reverse contains typeset borders and four Hebrew letters in the corners of the center block as anti counterfeiting devices.
Provenance: Purchased through the Robert H. Gore, Jr. Numismatic Endowment from the EANA mail bid auction of 12/02/95, lot 532.
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$4 Serial Number:339 SC 12/23/76
Signers: George Cooke, William Greenwood, Thomas Jones, Edward Blake (faded written sideways).
Size: 73 x 112mm (obverse border design, 70 x 108mm; reverse border design, 60 x 97mm).
Comments: This appears to be a partially signed and numbered remainder. Fully issued notes have five signatures. The note is denominated as both four Spanish milled dollars as at £6 10s. The front contains four border cuts and a seal. The 29mm seal depicts a boat at sea named the Actaeon that is on fire with the motto: " . THE ACTAEON . . IRAM . PRUDENTIA . VINCIT . " (The Actaeon. Prudence conquers anger). The reverse contains typeset borders and four Hebrew letters in the corners of the center block as anti counterfeiting devices. In the bottom margin of the reverse is the handwritten annotation "I John [last name obsucured by a stain]." The obverse of the first issues had the year as 1777, the plate was corrected so later issues, as the one above, bear the correct year.
Provenance: Purchased through the Robert H. Gore, Jr. Numismatic Endowment from the R.M. Smythe Chicago Paper Money Auction of 2/17/2000, lot 1035, graded as very fine.
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$8 Serial Number: not added SC 12/23/76
Signer: James Wakefield.
Size: 75 x 114mm (obverse border design, 72 x 111mm; reverse border design, 67 x 108mm).
Comments: Comments: This is an unnumbered and only partially signed remainder. The note is denominated as both eight Spanish milled dollars as as £13 0s0d. The front contains four border cuts and a seal. The 30mm seal depicts a sailing ship with the motto: ". MULTORUM . SPES ." (The hope of many). The reverse contains typeset borders and four Hebrew letters in the corners of the center block as anti counterfeiting devices.
Provenance: EANA mail bid auction 04/20/96 lot 593. Purchased through the Robert H. Gore, Jr. Numismatic Endowment.
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$20 Serial Number:1807 (faded) SC 12/23/76
Signers: George Cooke, Nathaniel Russell, William Greenwood.
Size: 72 x 116mm (obverse border design, 69 x 114mm; reverse border design, 68 x 116mm).
Comments: This appears to be a partially signed and numbered remainder. Fully issued notes have five signatures. The numbering is quite faded. The note is denominated as both twenty Spanish milled dollars as at £32 10s0d. The front contains four border cuts with cornucopias at the top and a seal. The 29mm seal depicts a bull with the motto: " . AUT . MORS . AUT . VICTORIA . " (Either death or victory). The reverse contains typeset borders and four Hebrew letters in the corners of the center block as anti counterfeiting devices. Note the top border contains a skull with cross bones flanked by an hourglass on either side followed by a design and then a harp.
Provenance: Purchased through the Robert H. Gore, Jr. Numismatic Endowment from the EANA mail bid auction of 5/23/98, lot 455, graded as choice extremely fine.
