Ben Franklin was a printer, but not a signer. But even with the notes with his imprint on them - the only ones that he actually printed are the ones from before ca. 1750 when he ran the business as a sole proprietor. After then he was in a partnership with David Hall and Hall ran the business as Franklin left the colonies for London and returned in 1760 when he sold his share of the business to William Sellers. Your top note that is from Maryland was printed by A.C. Green - Anne Catherine Green, one of the very very few women running a business of any kind in the colonies during that time. In a lot of ways her story and those of other printers are not much less interesting than Franklins'.
Issued in 1778, printed by Hall and Sellers in Philadelphia but still using the leaf prints on the reverse that Benjamin Franklin developed. Franklin correctly determined that each leaf is slightly different from another so that they are each unique. Using a leaf in the printing process became an anti-counterfeiting measure since in order to get the image exact you would have to have the exact leaf that created it. Anything else would not match up. Fine engraving and the intaglio printing process were still about 30-40 years in the future.
something about copper coating on the leaves made the counterfeiting almost impossible to do. That Franklin was a Smart feller.
Nice, I don’t have a single colonial note. Would love to own one nice one. I do need to get busy and post my CSA notes.
Hey, I know John Dunlap! Looking at all this colonial money makes me wonder if there’s a full list of printers and signers somewhere. Surely there is.
The Colony of New York issued notes in Old Tenor beginning in 1709, the paper money was allegedly backed and payable in silver plate. The colony issued paper money fairly consistently up to the Revolution. In addition to the colony, the Commonalty of the City of New York issued paper money, the issue of which financed municipal water works. The paper money was in fact the first paper money issued by a municipality in the American colonies when it was first issued in 1774. The border cuts for the note were engraved by Elisha Gallaudet, a noted engraver from New Jersey who was born ca. 1728. He engraved several colonial era banknotes for the colony and also New York, as well as creating the dies for the 1776 Continental Dollar. The most fascinating aspect of the note for me is the reverse illustration of a steam pump that was proposed to be constructed by Christopher Colles. Colles was a civil engineer that was born in Ireland in 1738 and lived in New York until his demise in 1821. In the early 1770's he proposed the creation of a resevoir to supply New York City with potable water. The Commonalty adopted this proposal and sought to finance it with this paper money issue. The paper money from this Water Works issue went through four different releases. Unfortunately the American Revolution intervened and the resevoir was not then completed, and people went back to using the well water they had been dependent on for several generations. The first signature is of N. Bayard, a member of a prominent New York family that lived in the city. The second signature is John H. Cruger, a wealthy New York City personage who would later associate himself with the Loyalist cause. He was born in 1738, and during the Revolution served as lieutenant-colonel of the First Battalion of Delancey's Brigade - loyalists serving in the British service. John Harris Cruger would go on to serve the British during the southern campaigns. At the cessation of hostilies in 1783, he briefly returned to New York City, but his extensive property holdings had been confiscated by the Americans. Subsequently he travelled to London and lived until his death in 1807 there. After the cessation of the war in 1783 the newly independent states suffered a dearth of circulating currency. In fact coins pretty much disappeared from all circulation, several of the colonies attempted to circulate contract coinage usually in halfpenny and penny denominations. In order to satisfy the needs of citizens and hope to drive poorly made counterfeit coins out of circulation the Corporation of the City of New York authorised the issuance of a paper money in 1790 in the denominations of one Penny, Twopence, and Threepence. The notes actually went through several printings through 1796, and earlier notes in poor condition were retired and destroyed. Despite the rumours of the notes becoming worthless they continued to circulate until London made counterfeits started circulating in 1799 - and then finally the notes were called in and redeemed. Despite the fact that 367,333 notes were issued for each denomination over the six years they were printed, the call in for redemption succeeded in redeeming the great majority of the notes - no note holders were left with worthless paper money - unusual for an early American currency issue. As a direct result of the mandatory redemption by 1 June 1799 the surviving notes are very scarce today despite their having been issued in large numbers. These New York notes were printed by Hugh Gaine, a printer who was born in Ireland in 1726, He established his printing business in New York in 1750, and 1752 established the "Mercury", a weekly publication that would soon become a known Loyalist outlet during the American Revolution. When fortunes changed for Loyalists, he left New York City. After the cessation of the war in 1783 he petitioned for redress and to return once more to New York City. He resumed his printing business, but could not print newspapers, pamphlets etc - a restriction that pretty much confined him to printing paper money for the Colony and City of New York and selling books. He died in 1807 in the city. Unusually he was one of the few loyalists that remained in the new United States after the Revolutionary War ended.
New Jersey began issuing paper money in 1709, in common with other colonies issues, it was frowned upon by the general population and the first issues were often rejected because of a lack of confidence in the notes given that one of the signers of the first issue was not even authorised officially to sign the notes and was only filling in because an authorised signer had died just prior to his being able to sign the notes. Confidence in the paper money was somewhat restored later on, and by the 1770's paper money became a dominant currency over coin in New Jersey. This issue from 1776 was printed by Isaac Collins of Burlington. Collins was born in 1746 and was a Quaker, and should have thus been a pacifist and not advocated the conflict that resulted from the American Revolution, but in fact he did offer support and published the "New Jersey Gazette" which advocated the conflict and independence for the colonies. Because of this he was expelled from the Society of Friends or the Quaker church, but later apologised for his transgressions and was welcomed back into the fold in the early 19th century. The printing firm began by Isaac Collins continues in business as it is now known as Charles Collins, Printers
Curious to a 21st century viewer, the presence of the name of George III and the year of his reign on this 1776 dated note was really not out of the ordinary for that moment in time. In the nascent stages of the American Revolution many believed they were just agitating for greater autonomy and representation from Great Britain - and believed they had no conflict with the reigning monarch. Until the heady summer of 1776, many sought to retain George III as their monarch, and still felt loyalty to him as many of them were ardent monarchists. But soon, especially with the Declaration of Independence on 4 July, sentiments had changed and George III was rapidly equated with the many travails associated with Great Britain. Soon his name and regnal year would disappear from all New Jersey issues. One of the signers of this note, the centre signature, is of John Hart. John Hart was born ca. 1711 in Connecticut, his ancestry going into the 17th century in New England. John Hart began a political career with his election to the Hunterdon County Board of Freeholders in 1750, later on he would be elected into the colonial Assembly of New Jersey. When the latter legislature was dissolved he joined the Committee of Safety and the Committee of Correspondence. He would go on to become a member of the first New Jersey provincial congress, and was elected it's vice president in early 1776. During the First Continental Congress this assembly was opposed to independence and was subsequently dissolved. Mr. Hart would then join a new assembly, this time in favour of independence and would a mere few months after signing this note, go on to join the New Jersey delegation that signed the Declaration of Independence. As he was now a marked man by the British, during the Battle of Trenton he had to go into hiding. During that time his farm was raided and damaged by British and Hessian soldiers, but the defeat of the British at the battle permitted his return to his home. Hart would continue to serve New Jersey as an assemblyman, and Committee of Safety member until his death in 1779.
Thanks for the history on these notes @scottishmoney. Does anyone know if the signatures on these were signed by the person whose name it is, or by a proxy ?
In these cases they were signed by the person whose name is on the note. By the time they got to the Continental issues the signers were lesser known individuals.
