I had this note for sale on EBay and had someone mention that this note might be a contemporary counterfeit. I pulled the note and wanted to see if anyone knows enough about these to enlighten me. I have seen genuine examples of this note graded by PMG. I know enough about colonial notes to buy the common ones fairly but I know nothing about counterfeits. I have read that this is a pretty scarce note if genuine. Can anyone help?
Sorry, I am not an expert on Colonial Notes. My suggestion? Send it in for authentication through PCGS or PMG. Pay the cost to have peace of mind!
That was the next step I just wasn't sure if we had a resident colonial guru here I could get a preliminary opinion from. Probably have to go that direction.
The previous issue, April 11, 1778, was the Yorktown issue and those notes were heavily counterfeited. Newman's The Early Paper Money of America does not list counterfeits for that denomination of that issue. It's hard to tell from the image what color the paper is. There were counterfeit detectors for that issue that were printed on blue paper.
Do you have a known specimen to compare it with? You probably already know this... the leaves were used in those days to deter counterfeiting.
I'm not a colonial guy, but I do know some contemporary counterfeits are worth more than the original notes being counterfeited.
I do not believe that it is a contemporary counterfeit. As you can see, the veins match. Genuine is from the link you specified. Sample is the specimen that you have. Only the color has been altered for contrasting purposes.
For some reason this note has been altered at the date. The Yorktowne notes have a date of 11th of April. This note looks like the date was erased or covered over and then Sept 26th was printed. The area around the date looks darker from the alteration. From what I have read in Newman's book the continental currency notes were all equally redeamable reguardless of the date. So there was no reason the change the date back then. Yorktowne notes are scarce so why would someone alter the date hurting the value of the note while changing it to the date of a more common note? I wish you lived closer to me so I could see the note in hand. Could you give a close up image of the date area?
Is it possible that the notes could only be used for a certain length of time? Maybe after August (I just picked a date) they stopped allowing the April dates for some reason. The owner attempted to change the date to the newer date so that the bill still had value. Just a wild guess..... If true it would make it a authentic bill and a current counterfeit at the same time.
The reverse checks out as far as I can tell; by virtue of the technology at that time, it would seem to me that it is not a contemporary counterfeit. That said, it doesn't negate the possibility that it's a later or modern counterfeit. It would be helpful if Matt could post a larger image of the specimen. - Cheetah
