COLLECTING COLONIAL NOTES BY SIGNERS

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V24 2021 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 24, Number 40, October 3, 2021, Article 22

There are may ways that collectors assemble collections of U.S. colonial paper money - by state, denomination, town, etc. James from Best Price Coins suggests an alternative. -Editor

Another favorite way to collect Colonial/Continental paper is by the names on the notes, such notables as (from Number1MoneyMan listings on ebay)....

HIGH GRADE (PMG 64 - CHOICE UNCIRCULATED) 8 DOLLAR MASSACHUSETTS NOTE of 1780 SIGNED by LOAMMI BALDWIN & RICHARD CRANCH.

Colonel Loammi Baldwin (January 10, 1744 to October 20, 1807) was an outstanding American engineer (Father of American Civil Engineering & member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences), politician, and a soldier in the Revolutionary War. Today he is known as the agriculturist of the Baldwin apple and his construction of the Middlesex Canal, which brought great riches to the region.

In 1774 Baldwin enlisted and commanded the Woburn militia at the first battles of independence; Lexington and Concord. He rose rapidly in rank and was with General George Washington the memorable night of December 25, 1776 at the crossing of the Delaware and the Battle of Trenton.

In 1780 he began serving as a signer of the currency and sheriff of Middlesex County. He was succeeded by his 5 sons, all outstanding engineers, as well.

Richard Cranch (1726-1811/he and his wife died within hours of each other and their daughter died the same year) of Braintree, Mass. was a watchmaker, legislator, and a jurist. He was associated with Harvard College, being attached to the Class of 1744 and receiving an honorary degree in 1780. He was a representative from Braintree to the Constitutional Convention in 1788; Representative to the Mass. General Court 1778-1782, 1786; member of the Mass. Senate 1787; Justice of the Suffolk County Court of Common Pleas 1779-1793, and Postmaster at Quincy 1794. He married Mary Smith of Weymouth, sister of Abigail Smith who became wife of John Adams (2nd President of the US).

$6 CONTINENTAL of 1775 PRE-DECLARATION of INDEPENDENCE ISSUE AUTHORIZED by CONGRESS. The FRONT DESIGN SHOWS a BEAVER CHEWING at a TREE with the LATIN MOTTO 'PERSEVERANDO' which TRANSLATES as 'BY PERSEVERANCE'. And on the BACK, the BEN FRANKLIN ANTI-COUNTEFEITING LEAF DESIGN of the BUTTERCUP.

SIGNED by CORNELIUS BARNES (in RED) & JONATHAN BAYARD SMITH (DISTINGUISHED MEMBER of the CONTINENTAL CONGRESS & SIGNER of the ARTICLES of CONFEDERATION. Who SERVED as LIEUTENANT COLONEL in JOHN BAYARD'S REGIMENT DURING the BRANDYWINE CAMPAIGN with GEORGE WASHINGTON in 1777). LATER he was a TRUSTEE with what was to BECOME the UNIVERSITY of PENNSYLVANIA.

1 DOLLAR CONTINENTAL of 1776 SIGNED by the SON, SAM HILLEGAS, of 1st US TREASURER (MICHAEL HILLEGAS-WHO is PORTRAYED on the $10 US GOLD NOTES of 1922)

The FIRST CONTINENTAL ISSUE of 1776 ISSUED with the UN PATRIOTIC CROWN (QUICKLY REPLACED with a BLUE CIRCLE MOTIF) and the LAST to be DENOMINATED in PENCE, SHILLINGS & POUNDS. SIGNED by 3 AMERICAN HEROES;

William Gibbons (April 8, 1726 - September 27, 1800) was an American lawyer and revolutionary, member of the colonial assembly 1760-1762; joined the Sons of Liberty in 1774, and on May 11, 1775, was one of the party that broke open the magazine in Savannah and removed 600 pounds of the King's powder. Delegate to the Provincial Congress of July 1775, member of the committee of safety and member of the executive council 1777-1781. Also associate justice of Chatham County in 1781 and 1782. Member of the Continental Congress in 1784, member of the State house of representatives in 1783, 1785-1789, and 1791-1793, and served as speaker in 1783, 1786, and 1787. President of the State constitutional convention in 1789 and justice of the inferior court of Chatham County 1790-1792, as if this was not enough!

McGillivray was born in Dunmaglass, Inverness, Scotland. It is thought that he was fleeing the Highland rebellion of 1745 as he arrived penniless in America, although he may have arrived as an indentured servant. Lachlan McGillivray was a Scottish Highlander recruited by James Oglethorpe to act as settler and soldier protecting the frontiers of Georgia from the Spanish in Florida, the French in the Alabama basin, and the Indian allies of the Spanish and the French. On January 10, 1736, Lachlan and 176 immigrants, including women and children, arrived on board the Prince of Wales to establish the town of Darien, Georgia (originally known as New Inverness). By the late 1740's, McGillivray was well established as a fur trader in the Upper Creek nation in what is now central Alabama.

William O'Bryen - Treasurer of Georgia (1778) and elected to the Continental Congress (1789).