Province of Pennsylvania

Enlarge Obverse (top) and reverse (bottom) — Notofilia.com Collection

On October 1, 1773, the Pennsylvania General Assembly authorized a new issue of colonial paper money in various denominations, printed by Hall and Sellers of Philadelphia —, direct successors to the workshop that belonged to Benjamin Franklin. These two notes, two shillings and sixpence (“Half-a-Crown”) and five shillings (“A Crown”), circulated in the weeks leading up to the Boston Tea Party, on the eve of the American Revolution.

Two Shillings and Sixpence (“Half-a-Crown”)

Country / Province British America — Province of Pennsylvania

Issuing Entity General Assembly of Pennsylvania, under the reign of George III

Denomination Two Shillings and Sixpence (equivalent to “HALF-A-CROWN”, half a crown) · No. 21251

Date of Issue October 1, 1773

Printer Hall and Sellers, Philadelphia

Signatures Benjamin Morgan, William Fisher Jr. (signature in red ink) and Barnaby Barnes, signatory commissioners

Catalog Reference Friedberg Fr. PA-165

Key details

• Signature in red ink:William Fisher Jr.'s signature is printed in red ink —along with the denomination's own numeral—, an additional measure against counterfeiting uncommon in the rest of the series.
• Security paper:printed on paper with flecks of mica and blue fibers embedded, early anti-counterfeiting technology employed by Hall and Sellers.
• Reverse:engraved vignette of a rural landscape with a decorative border and the warning “TO COUNTERFEIT IS DEATH”.

Five Shillings (“A Crown”)

Enlarge Obverse (top) and reverse (bottom) — Notofilia.com Collection

Country / Province British America — Province of Pennsylvania

Issuing Entity General Assembly of Pennsylvania, under the reign of George III

Denomination Five Shillings (equivalent to “A CROWN”, one crown) · No. 973

Date of Issue October 1, 1773 —just weeks before the Boston Tea Party

Printer Hall and Sellers, Philadelphia (successors of Benjamin Franklin's printing press)

Signatures Jas. Hartley, Alex. Todd and Josh. Mifflin, signatory commissioners

Catalog Reference Friedberg Fr. PA-166

Key details

• Engraved stamp:small crowned royal coat of arms at center, with the partially visible inscription “...CROWN...JUSTI...”, an allusion to the royal authority under which the currency was issued.
• Reverse:engraved landscape vignette with a broad ray of rising sunlight over a grove, framed by a floral border, and the warning “TO COUNTERFEIT IS DEATH”.

More than three years before the Declaration of Independence, the thirteen British colonies were already issuing their own paper money —authorized by their legislative assemblies, but always under the nominal authority of the Crown— to alleviate the chronic shortage of minted gold and silver coins. The Hall and Sellers printing press in Philadelphia, successor to Benjamin Franklin's workshop, would over the years become one of the official printers of continental currency during the Revolutionary War itself.

— Historical Context Note