Massachusetts Currency
May 5, 1780
An emission of £394,000 ($1,313,333) in legal tender bills of credit payable in Spanish milled dollars with 5% interest by December 31, 1786. This issue was authorized pursuant to the Continental Congress Resolution of March 18, 1780. Printed by Hall and Sellers in Philadelphia using paper watermarked "United States." The front was printed in black with border cuts by Henry Dawkins. The back was printed in black and red with border cuts and emblems from the Continental Currency issue of January 14, 1779. The cuts surrounding the emblem are by Dawkins. Notes are sometimes surcharged in red "Interest paid one year" and usually hole canceled upon redemption. There are two signatures on the front and a guaranty signature on the back. Denominations issued were: $1, $2, $3, $4, $5, $7, $8 and $20.obv
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$1 Serial Number: 2044 MA 05/05/80
Signers: Richard Cranch, Samuel Henshaw (front); Peter Boyer (back, guaranty signature).
Size: 72 x 92mm (front border design: 69 x 89mm; back border design: 69 x 89mm).
Comments: Printed in red and black inks. The emblem on the back depicts a bowl containing weights sitting on top of an acanthus bush with the motto: "Depressa resurgit" (Having been pressed down it rises up again). The paper is watermarked "UNITED STATES." Surcharge stamped in red ink on front: "Interest Paid one Year."
Provenance: From the Robert H. Gore, Jr. Numismatic Collection.
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$2 Serial Number: 13947 MA 05/05/80
Signers: Thomas Dawes, Loammi Baldwin (front); Thomas Walley (back, guaranty signature).
Size: 72 x 92mm (front border design: 69 x 89mm; back border design: 69 x 89mm).
Comments: Printed in red and black inks. The emblem on the back shows grain being threshed with a flail with the motto: "Tribulatio ditat." (It is enriched by affliction). The paper is watermarked "UNITED STATES." Surcharge stamped in red ink on front: "Interest Paid one Year."
Provenance: Robert H. Gore, Jr. Collection in Numismatics. >
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$3 Serial Number: 7664 MA 05/05/80
Signers: Thomas Dawes, Richard Cranch (front); Thomas Walley (back, guaranty signature).
Size: 72 x 94mm (front border design: 69 x 89mm; back border design: 69 x 89mm).
Comments: Printed in red and black inks. The emblem on the back shows an eagle and an heron fighting with the motto: "Exitus in dubio" (The outcome is in doubt). The paper is watermarked "UNITED STATES"; surcharge stamped in red ink on front: "Interest Paid one Year."
Provenance: Robert H. Gore, Jr. Collection in Numismatics.
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$4 Serial Number: 10853 MA 05/05/80
Signers: Ebenezer Wales, Richard Cranch (front); Peter Boyer (back, guaranty signature).
Size: 71 x 90mm (front border design: 70 x 89mm; back border design: 69 x 90mm; long dimension of back border slightly cut off).
Comments: Printed in red and black inks. The emblem on the back shows a wild boar charging into a spear with the motto: "Aut mors aut vita decora" (Either death or an honorable life). The paper is watermarked "UNITED STATES"; surcharge stamped in red ink on front: "Interest Paid one Year."
Provenance: Robert H. Gore, Jr. Collection in Numismatics.
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$4 Serial Number: 6692 MA 05/05/80
Signers: Thomas Dawes, Richard Cranch (front); Thomas Walley (back, guaranty signature).
Size: 74 x 93mm (front border design: 70 x 89mm; back border design: 69 x 90mm; long dimension of back border slightly cut off).
Comments: Printed in red and black inks. The emblem on the back shows a wild boar charging into a spear with the motto: "Aut mors aut vita decora" (Either death or an honorable life). The paper is watermarked "UNITED STATES." Hole Cancel; text partially missing from front read: "Thousand Seven/ in LIKE MONEY/ Annum, in the/ to an Act"; text partially missing from back read: "DECORA".
Provenance: Robert H. Gore, Jr. Collection in Numismatics.
