North Carolina Currency
December 29, 1785
An emission of £100,000 ($250,000) in legal tender bills of credit. The notes have engraved border cuts and vignettes on the face, the remainder of the face and the back are typeset. Printed by Thomas Davis in Hillsborough on thick paper watermarked NORTH CAROLINA. Because of North Carolina's poor financial position the state was not able to exchange these bills for legal currency once state currency was prohibited by the Constitution (ratified in 1789). This issue remained in circulation at a depreciated rate (20% lower than specie) until 1816 when the North Carolina legislature authorized the printing of a new (and illegal) issue of fractional currency in order to have currency to exchange for the old notes. Denominations issued were: 6d, 1s, 2s, 2s6d, 5s, 10s, 20s and 40s.obv
40s Counterfeit Serial Number: 1032 NC 12/29/85
Signers: John Hunt, Absalom Tatom (forgeries).
Size: not available
Comments: Signed and numbered in brown ink. Denominated as 40s and £2. Vignette of blind Justice holding a sword and scales with the caption "Justitiae." The vignette and borders are cuts with the remainder of the note typeset. An image of the back is not available, however it is typeset. Newman distinguishes the counterfeit in that in the vignette the forearm holding the sword slants slightly from the vertical.
Courtesy of Early American Numismatic Auctions, Inc. Images used with permission from their on-line auction catalog for the auction of November 16, 1996, lot 664.
