I purchased this from another CT member, @John Anthony, who mainly deals in ancients. I must say that it is a pleasure doing business with him. I’ve never had a problem with the ancients I have bought from him and the purchase of this note, which I bought sight unseen, confirms that. After buying and receiving this in the mail I was thrilled. It was everything John said it would be and more. I had another friend that sent it into PMG for grading. Just yesterday I received the note back and I’m thrilled at the grade it received. This is my first and only Colonial Note. I do not collect them but I’ve always wanted one. Most of the ones you see are worn, torn or have holes or a small piece missing. Some even have scotch tape on them. Those type of notes are not for me. There are no pin holes in this note and it’s complete. The note was hand cut and is tightly trimmed on the right side. It has excellent colors and strong signatures. The serial number is 22302 as noted by PMG. The 3 was originally written as a 0 but was in error and changed to a 3. The overwriting can easily be seen with a magnifying glass. This is a Pennsylvania Colonial Note dated October 1, 1773. That makes it 249 years old, from the Revolutionary War time frame. It has a value of 15 Shillings. The number assigned to this note is Fr#PA-168. It graded 55, About Uncirculated EPQ. The EPQ stands for Exceptional Paper Quality, which is highly desirable. To me, this grade is better than an AU-58. There are so many reason to like this note I can’t name them all but one of them is this bill is dated before the United States because a nation. On the front of the Note is confirmation of this fact by referring to “the Reign of his Majesty George the Third”. A second reason I like this Note so much is on the other side. Just below the picture of a farm are the words “To Counterfeit is DEATH”. On the front you’ll take notice of some red letters mixed in with the black letters. This is one of the anti-counterfeiting measures that was used in this time period. At the bottom of the Note, in rather large letters is the printer. It clearly reads “Printed by HALL and SELLERS.”. I am very proud to have this Colonial Note in my collection so a big Thank You to John Anthony. The Note is not stained, it’s my shadow from taking the note trying not to get reflections from the note being encased.
As more background, Hall and Sellers is the firm that took over from Franklin and Hall. This was the frim that took over for Ben Franklin. Ben Franklin literally made his fortune in business at first printing currency for Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey. Notes printed only by him are very expensive, Delaware and Pennsylvania noted by Franklin and Hall are pretty pricey, ($1000 for average well circulated specimen, much higher for something this grade). One day I might get a note or two by Franklin himself, but today I own maybe 10 Franklin and Hall notes between the two states.
It amazes me that items like this used to circulate in their day. That’s why most of them are worn almost to where you tell what they once were.
Let me spill the dirt on John Anthony and JAZ Numismatics! Just you wait until you hear!!!! Well, he's actually terrific, and I'm kind of annoyed for myself that more people know about him now, but I'm happy for him about that. I did just think of one negative (hee! Been trying to think of one!) regarding his new VCoins store - he's less likely to pay attention to those of us who like non-ancients (I love love love his medieval coins) but that thought doesn't really follow through given the original post here. So, I got nothing. I'm looking forward to doing more business with John Anthony and have nothing but positive things to say with regard to my previous several transactions - he's honest and a fair dealer.
I’m sure as his business grows so will his inventory, ancients, medieval, older modern, etc. I like coins from the Bible times but they are hard to get. I don’t always win an auction but he his honest.
