Printed by Benjamin Franklin: A 1758 Pennsylvania Colonial Currency Bill for 20 shillings
An ornately engraved note stating “This Bill shall pass as current for 20 shillings within the Province of Pensylvania according to an Act of Assembly made in the 31st year of the reign of His Majesty King George II dated May 20, 1758.” The Penn coat of arms is engraved at left...
An ornately engraved note stating “This Bill shall pass as current for 20 shillings within the Province of Pensylvania according to an Act of Assembly made in the 31st year of the reign of His Majesty King George II dated May 20, 1758.” The Penn coat of arms is engraved at left center. The bill is signed by Peter Chevalier, Jr., Samuel Morris and James Humphreys. On the ornately engraved verso appears the famous warning “To Counterfeit is Death, and the fact that the bill was printed by B. Franklin and D. Hall” beneath an engraving of fern leaves. Franklin appears to have deliberately spelled the name of Pennsylvania in different ways on different bills to forestall forgeries.
These notes passed hands like modern currency for many years, and this one would be about equivalent to $140 today.
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