Title

North Carolina paper currency, value ten shillings

Maker

[James Davis]

Material

Ink on paper

Origin

North Carolina, New Bern

Date:

After 1748-04-04

Dimensions:

OH: 2 5/8” (6.7 cm); OW:  5” (12.7 cm)

Description:

Engraved ten-shilling note issued for North Carolina. Printed from engraved copper plate with scrolled stuccowork border on left edge and horse in a circle on lower left corner. Printed inscription (in script): “North Carolina/ X S. Ten Shillings/ Proclamation Mony [sic] According to Act of/ Assembly pass’d the 4^th of April 1748.” Bill is numbered in ink in upper right corner: “894.” Partially visible signatures in ink on obverse: “Eleazer Allen,” “Sam^l Swann,” “Edward Moseley” and “John Starkey.”  Several barely legible signatures are on the reverse. The note is printed on very thin paper folded in quarters and supported by stronger backing stock.

Donor:

Anonymous

Relation

This is part of a 54-piece gift of North Carolina paper currency issued between 1748 and 1771 from the same anonymous donor.

Comments:

Although the engraving is unsigned, the printer of the 1748-issue bills is probably James Davis (1721-1785), North Carolina’s first printer. Davis arrived from Williamsburg, Virginia, in 1749 to fill the post of public printer, an office created that year by the Assembly to print a revisal of the colony’s laws. He set up his printing shop in New Bern. His first job was printing currency for the province. The revised laws were not printed until 1751.

 The bill was issued in a series of 2000.

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 Archives and History.”