United States · Colonial paper · State of Connecticut

20 shillings note, 1780

20 shillings · Connecticut · 1 June 1780

Twenty shillings — one pound — of Connecticut, 1 June 1780, New London. Manuscript serial 8495. PMG 53, certificate 1072657-023.

Catalog facts

Pick reference: Fr. CT-231
Serial number: Nº 8495
PMG comments: Slash Cancelled; Hinged
Signatures: J. Hamlin and Williams, manuscript in red ink. Newman includes Jabez Hamlin and Elisha Williams on the emission’s signer list; the given name Elisha is not written out on this example. Comittr. is printed vertically beside the brace.
Condition: PMG 53 · certificate 1072657-023
Printage: Timothy Green II, New London, 1780. Newman puts the authorization for the whole 1 June 1780 emission at £50,000 — 166,667 Spanish milled dollars — at 5 percent, payable 1 March 1784. This record does not invent a printage for the 20 shillings or for serial 8495.

Face, 20 shillings 1 June 1780, serial Nº 8495 — Slabbed face of the Connecticut 20 shillings, Fr. CT-231, 1 June 1780: three grapevines, manuscript serial 8495, and the PMG 53 label.

Slabbed face of the Connecticut 20 shillings, Fr. CT-231, 1 June 1780: three grapevines, manuscript serial 8495, and the PMG 53 label.

Back, 20 shillings 1 June 1780, serial Nº 8495 — Slabbed back, PMG certificate 1072657-023: NEW-LONDON, Printed by TIM. GREEN, and the comments Slash Cancelled and Hinged.

Slabbed back, PMG certificate 1072657-023: NEW-LONDON, Printed by TIM. GREEN, and the comments Slash Cancelled and Hinged.

The note

The 20 shillings of 1 June 1780 (Friedberg CT-231) is a State of Connecticut treasury note, equal to one pound, payable in Spanish milled dollars. The face, black and framed by scrollwork, titles TWENTY SHILLINGS. The text promises that the possessor shall be paid by the Treasurer of the State of Connecticut TWENTY SHILLINGS in Spanish milled dollars, at six shillings each, or in other silver or gold coin equivalent, with interest at five percent per annum, by the first day of March 1784. The long s in first (firſt), in “the first Day of June” and “the first Day of March,” is often read as fifth: the printed dates are 1 June 1780 and 1 March 1784, not the 5th. It stands “By order of Assembly” and is dated at Hartford. At left a small circular seal shows three grapevines, the device of the Connecticut arms; the motto is not transcribed from this photograph. The Nº field carries manuscript serial 8495, in red ink. The two signatures, also in red, read J. Hamlin and Williams. Beside the brace, Comittr. is printed vertically. Newman gives the 1 June signers as those of 1 March — John Chester, Jabez Hamlin, Benjamin Payne, Elisha Williams, and George Wyllys — plus William Pitkin. The pair on this example matches Jabez Hamlin and Elisha Williams; the given name Elisha is not written out. The back, in black, centers TWENTY SHILL., JUNE 1st., NEW-LONDON, and Printed by TIM. GREEN, inside a scrollwork frame with winged figures in the corners. Denomination and date repeat above and below, with June 1st. 1780. It is not the Rhode Island 20 shillings of May 1786 (Fr. RI-298, serial 6229), nor the Pennsylvania 20 shillings of 1 October 1773 (Fr. PA-169), nor the Connecticut 20 shillings of 1 March 1780. The note is slabbed. The PMG label prints About Uncirculated 53, certificate 1072657-023, and the comments Slash Cancelled and Hinged. It does not print EPQ. A cut or a hole is not confidently located on the photograph: the cancellation and the hinge are recorded from the label.

The 1 June 1780 emission

Newman describes £50,000 in treasury notes dated 1 June 1780, payable in Spanish milled dollars on 1 March 1784, with 5 percent interest, under the act of May 1780. The emission stood in lieu of, and was exchangeable for, the guaranteed paper Congress authorized on 18 March 1780, which arrived too late to be used. Timothy Green II printed them in New London. They were similar to the 1 March 1780 notes, with the same signers plus William Pitkin, and were customarily slash- or hole-cancelled on redemption. The £50,000 figure is the authorization for the whole emission, not the number of pieces and not the printage of the 20 shillings.

On the portal’s list the denominations are 9d, 1s3d, 2s6d, 5s, 10s, 20s, and 40s; the 20s and the 40s carry the CF mark. Greysheet catalogues, separately, a contemporary counterfeit of this type. This record does not identify serial 8495 with that counterfeit: the holder names it Fr. CT-231. The online record for certificate 1072657-023 has not been opened. No plate state and no census are asserted.

Scarcity and printage

Friedberg numbers the 20 shillings of 1 June 1780 as CT-231. Newman’s £50,000 is the authorization for the whole emission, not a printage of this denomination and not a serial range. This record does not invent a census or an auction rarity for the type or for serial 8495. No price is published.

Population

Certificate 1072657-023 and the grade printed on the holder, About Uncirculated 53, with the comments Slash Cancelled and Hinged, are recorded. A PMG census for Fr. CT-231 in 53 has not been independently verified: the online report has not been opened. A certification census does not say how many examples survive.

Sources

Newman Numismatic Portal — Early Paper Money of America / Connecticut / 1780 June 1 (opens in a new tab)
£50,000; act of May 1780; payable 1 March 1784 at 5 percent in Spanish milled dollars; in lieu of the guaranteed paper of 18 March 1780; Timothy Green II; the 1 March signers plus William Pitkin; customarily slash- or hole-cancelled; denominations, with a CF mark on the 20s and the 40s.
Newman Numismatic Portal — Connecticut / 1780 March 1 (opens in a new tab)
Signer list for 1 March, which the June record reuses: John Chester, Jabez Hamlin, Benjamin Payne, Elisha Williams, and George Wyllys. Not this example’s emission.
Smithsonian — 10 Shillings, Connecticut, 1780 (nmah_988286) (opens in a new tab)
Same date on the object, 1780-06-01, printer Timothy Green II, New London. A 10 shillings, not the 20 shillings and not serial 8495.
Smithsonian — 20 Shillings, Connecticut, 1780 (nmah_988281) (opens in a new tab)
Twenty shillings of the same colony and printer, date on object 1780-03-01. Not 1 June and not serial 8495.
Greysheet — Jun 1, 1780 20s Connecticut (Fr. CT-231) (opens in a new tab)
Confirms Friedberg CT-231 for the 20 shillings of 1 June 1780 and catalogues, separately, a contemporary counterfeit of the type. Price columns are not republished.
Massachusetts Historical Society — Paper Currency of the Revolution, 1775–1781 (opens in a new tab)
The 1 June 1780 issue, printed by Timothy Green of New London; the notes it lists under that heading are payable 1 March 1784. None is serial 8495. The next heading dates some bills 1 June 1780 and due 1 March 1785: that date is not the one printed on this example and is not used here.
PMG — Certificate verification 1072657-023 (opens in a new tab)
The holder prints Fr. CT-231, 1 June 1780, 20 shillings, serial 8495, About Uncirculated 53, Slash Cancelled, and Hinged. The online record has not been opened.