Craven County Digital History Exhibit

     NC 1775 $5 

Accession Number TP.1986.029.001

Title

North Carolina paper currency, Bill of Credit value five dollars

 

Maker

[James Davis, printer]

 

Material

Laid paper, ink

 

Origin

North Carolina, [New Bern]

 

Date:

1776

 

Dimensions:

OH: 2 5/16” (5.8 cm); OW: 3 1/8” (8.0 cm)

 

Description:

Engraved five-dollar Bill of Credit issued by North Carolina with wide top border and narrow borders on the sides; top border inscribed: “No Carolina Currency”, left border (in script) “five dollars”, vignette of thrush in lower left corner. Main text: “ No 6996  Five Dollars/ By Authority of Congress/ at Halifax April 2 1776.” Ink signatures: “Wm Haywood”/ “Wm Williams” “W[ebb]”. Bill printed on very thin paper and attached to separate backing paper. Ink inscriptions on reverse: calculations (very faint.)  

 

Source:

Purchase

 

Relation:

 

 

Comments:

An Act dated April 2, 1776, authorized the printing of $1,250,000 (£500,000) in Bills of Credit. The bills were issued in two series: $250,000 in the first, dated April 2, 1776 (the beginning of the session) and $1,000,000 in the second, dated May 9, 1776. Each bill has a vignette and some also contain mottoes. This denomination was issued in a series of 10,000 bills. Fractional denominations (less than one dollar) are smaller in size than the higher denominations. Bills were signed by: Willis Alston, J. Bradford, William Haywood, G. Hill, Benjamin McCulloch, David Sumner, J. Webb, and William Williams. Some of the bills in this issue were engraved by “GL” thought to be Gabriel Lewyn, a Baltimore goldsmith. Only a few of the bills in this series have his initials.

 

Language:

En

 

Rights:

Permission to use the photograph must be obtained in writing from Tryon Palace Historic Sites & Gardens, New Bern, North Carolina. It must be accompanied by the caption” From the collection of Tryon Palace Historic Sites & Gardens, New Bern, North Carolina; North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, Division of Archive and History.”

Obverse Image
Reverse Image

Images scanned by Dean Knight
Text prepared by Nancy Richards and Victor T. Jones, Jr.

Last edited: June 5, 2015