Colonial Currency RI June 16, 1775 30s PCGS EF-40
Rhode Island Currency
June 16, 1775 Rhode Island One Pound Ten Shillings Note Rarity Ex: NASCA 1979 PCGS graded Extremely Fine-40
Colony of Rhode Island, June 16, 1775, Thirty Shillings / One Pound Ten Shillings, 2.5% Interest, Due within two years, Printed by John Carter, East Greenwich (RI,), PCGS graded Extremely Fine-40.
Fr. RI-195. Likely the finest known on this high denomination. Low Serial number 74. An early Revolutionary War issue, Signed in red and bold brown by "Jos(eph) Clarke and M(etcalfe) Bowler. A remarkably choice pleasing note, authorized less than two months after the April 19, 1775 start of the Revolution at the Battle of Lexington and Concord with its "Shot heard round the world." The holder states apparent restorations, (there is a trivial sealed centerfold edge split). The laid period paper is exceptionally clean with deeply printed black text. The Stack's Ford/Boyd Collection Sale, Part XV, October 2006, lot 8659 contained a near similar quality One Shilling note graded raw Very Fine to Extremely Fine given accolades by its cataloger as "condition census, considered an exceptional condition rarity" and "stunning!" which sold then for a healthy $2,530. This current note has a superior appearance, with highly attractive eye appeal being well centered on both face and back. A major "Condition Census" rarity for its superb high quality. PCGS graded Extremely Fine-40. Provenance Ex: NASCA, Dr. Van B. Elliott Sale, April-May 1979, Lot 220 (no auction tag).
METCALFE BOWLER (1726 - September 24, 1789) was a Rhode Island merchant, politician, and magistrate. He was for many years Speaker of the House in the Rhode Island Colonial Assembly, attended the 1754 Albany Congress, and was elected a Delegate to the 1765 Stamp Act Congress. In 1776 he was appointed to the newly independent State's Supreme Court. A successful Atlantic merchant, he was financially ruined by the American Revolutionary War, and was in the 20th century revealed to be a paid informant for the British Army.
In the late 1920s, when an extensive cataloging of the papers of General Sir Henry Clinton was undertaken, correspondence was found in which Bowler was revealed to be a paid informer for the British at the same time that he was being hailed as an American Patriot. This change of heart was apparently made in an attempt to prevent the plundering of his properties in and around Newport, Rhode Island following the British occupation. It is not known whether he gave the British any useful intelligence.
KEYWORDS:
Rare Currency, Colonial Currency, Historic Paper Money, Early Paper Money of America, Rhode Island Colonial Currency, Revolutionary War Paper Money, Colonial America, Printing Paper Money, Rhode Island Fiscal Paper Note, Hand Signed Paper Money, Rhode Island Currency, Counterfeit Currency, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin
Sale price
Estimate
Time, Location
Auction House
Rhode Island Currency
June 16, 1775 Rhode Island One Pound Ten Shillings Note Rarity Ex: NASCA 1979 PCGS graded Extremely Fine-40
Colony of Rhode Island, June 16, 1775, Thirty Shillings / One Pound Ten Shillings, 2.5% Interest, Due within two years, Printed by John Carter, East Greenwich (RI,), PCGS graded Extremely Fine-40.
Fr. RI-195. Likely the finest known on this high denomination. Low Serial number 74. An early Revolutionary War issue, Signed in red and bold brown by "Jos(eph) Clarke and M(etcalfe) Bowler. A remarkably choice pleasing note, authorized less than two months after the April 19, 1775 start of the Revolution at the Battle of Lexington and Concord with its "Shot heard round the world." The holder states apparent restorations, (there is a trivial sealed centerfold edge split). The laid period paper is exceptionally clean with deeply printed black text. The Stack's Ford/Boyd Collection Sale, Part XV, October 2006, lot 8659 contained a near similar quality One Shilling note graded raw Very Fine to Extremely Fine given accolades by its cataloger as "condition census, considered an exceptional condition rarity" and "stunning!" which sold then for a healthy $2,530. This current note has a superior appearance, with highly attractive eye appeal being well centered on both face and back. A major "Condition Census" rarity for its superb high quality. PCGS graded Extremely Fine-40. Provenance Ex: NASCA, Dr. Van B. Elliott Sale, April-May 1979, Lot 220 (no auction tag).
METCALFE BOWLER (1726 - September 24, 1789) was a Rhode Island merchant, politician, and magistrate. He was for many years Speaker of the House in the Rhode Island Colonial Assembly, attended the 1754 Albany Congress, and was elected a Delegate to the 1765 Stamp Act Congress. In 1776 he was appointed to the newly independent State's Supreme Court. A successful Atlantic merchant, he was financially ruined by the American Revolutionary War, and was in the 20th century revealed to be a paid informant for the British Army.
In the late 1920s, when an extensive cataloging of the papers of General Sir Henry Clinton was undertaken, correspondence was found in which Bowler was revealed to be a paid informer for the British at the same time that he was being hailed as an American Patriot. This change of heart was apparently made in an attempt to prevent the plundering of his properties in and around Newport, Rhode Island following the British occupation. It is not known whether he gave the British any useful intelligence.
KEYWORDS:
Rare Currency, Colonial Currency, Historic Paper Money, Early Paper Money of America, Rhode Island Colonial Currency, Revolutionary War Paper Money, Colonial America, Printing Paper Money, Rhode Island Fiscal Paper Note, Hand Signed Paper Money, Rhode Island Currency, Counterfeit Currency, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin
