Hey gang! I have stumbled upon this note. In my quick research I am finding that this is a VERY scarce note. There are also contemporary counterfeits of this note which seem to bring a pretty penny as well. Does anyone know? or know someone I could call or EMail? The full shots are the best representation of color of the note. When I get to taking closeups my lights mess with the currency colors a bit. The big pictures are an accurate representation of color. Thanks in advance!
I don't have any experience in colonial notes, but this 36 shilling note you have is like the one featured in figure 13 at http://ansmagazine.com/Summer07/Liberty. There should be a number in the central area at top, but I can't read the number on your one. You can compare yours to this one, and see if you can spot any differences. I don't imagine that the printer of the note would have had more than one plate to print off, but I could be wrong on that. I have no idea of how many were printed. I am assuming that the ANS example has been verified as authentic, but that assumption may not be valid. Good luck to you, and compare the signatures, too. if the Tho Mice (?? guessing at last name) is exactly the same, I would worry, as most people don't sign each item presented to them at one time exactly the same.
If you look at the closeup of the signature you will see that it appears that the red ink has faded to the point where it is basically gone. You can see the remnants of the second signature just above the dark signature.
For $25, the folks at Early American (I know...Pawn Stars, blah blah...but the group DOES have a good reputation for early currency) will do a "Quick Evaluation", including retail range and authentication, via E-Mail. No need to send or insure the note. http://www.earlyamerican.com/Auctions/ClientPages/evaluation.php Given the potential value if authentic, and that you're a retail establishment, might be worth $25 to know if it's worth pursuing further. Just a thought.
That thing is awesome and for $25 it seems like money well spent. Please let us know what you find out about the note, regardless of what you end up doing.
Almost exactly the same note about halfway down the page here: http://www.history.org/foundation/journal/summer03/pay.cfm Same value - 36 schilling note. Look here for a similar note (guaranteed authentic - but the 48 schilling note on this page is actually "A fine example of this contemporary counterfeit" ). Appears the going rate may be above $2000. For a counterfeit? Curious. http://www.scottwinslow.com/category/Paper_Money/c5pg
This note is just slightly different with the issue date and the scroll reading MAGNA CHARTA instead of INDEPENDENCE. I did pay the $25 to get their opinion. It looks like they will know for sure. I'll let you know what I come up with.
I got a response within a couple of hours. It appears that this note is a contempoary counterfeit. Still worth around $1,000 as a contempoary counterfeit.
Wow...a grand for a counterfeit?? Impressive! Good to know they got back to you so quickly. Did they happen to offer any diagnostics that allowed them to determine its nature?
Yeah, I am also interested in any diagnostics they might have given you. That is a really nice note. congratz!
The Early Paper Money of America by Eric P. Newman is one of the best resources in print I can recommend on Colonials. You might get a copy for future reference on such notes. You could also try to contact people who work with the author to inquire more about your note if you come by rare piecess some day. I'm not sure how active the author is at his age, click his name above to read more about him. Also, there is this web site, Colonial Currency for some online resource help.
While I'm not sure about this particular note, many Colonials were printed with multiple printing blocks that were puzzeled together (think moveable type), and this allowed design elements to be changed or harder to replicate fraudulently. As well we have examples of designs that were made from impressions of 'leaves' which transferred their vein patterns to the note paper, among other natural objects employed. Why all of this? To thwart counterfeiting as is ever the bane of printed currency. Additionally, plates of the era didn't need to be metal, wood blocks were cut and set on a press the same way they printed anything else on paper then. A shortage of metals wouldn't have been a limitation to using multiple plates and counterfeiters forced innovations so the Colonial currency printer had to constantly improve on the security of the currency, fortunately the likes of Paul Revere, Ben Franklin and other notables saw to these challenges. These figures were learned printers, platemakers and tech giants of their time.
