Currency

Object/Artifact

Historic Hudson Valley

Name/Title

Currency

Entry/Object ID

VC.2005.30

Description

A five dollar Rhode Island legal tender bill of credit: Front side has borders on four sides; top border on a folded banner has "FIVE DOLLARS"; right border is a flower and leafy cut; bottom border has a ribbon and urn combination; left border(on a lined ground in script) is "FIVE DOLLARS"; paper contains mica flakes and blue fibers and a watermark "CONFEDE / RATION"; under top border are two rows of print over a straight line "STATE of RHODE-ISLAND and / PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS."; below is handwritten currency number "395" in dark brown ink and rows of print "FIVE DOLLARS / THE Possessor of this BILL shall be paid FIVE / SPANISH milled DOLLARS by the Thirty-first Day of December, One Thousand Seven hundred and Eighty- / six, with Interest in like Money, at the Rate of five per / Centum per Annum, by the State of Rhode-Island and Pro- / vidence Plantations, according to an Acˆ t of the Legila- / ture of the said State, of the Second Day of July,1780"; below on the bottom left corner within a border of stars is printed "Interest. s. d. q. / Annually, 1 6 0 / Monthly, 0 1 2"; next to this are signatures "A Comstock" in dark brown ink and "C Harris" in red ink; on back the top border has a red ink rectangle over a banner with "THE UNITED STATES" / "FIVE DOLLARS"; right border has a single urn above a staff wrapped with a vine; bottom border has "The United States(in script)" and "FIVE / DOLLAR"; left border is a ribbon and urncombination; in center on a leaf and cloth nature print is the circular emblem of a bleeding hand in a thorn bush partially covered by a square of red ink and with the motto "SUSTINE VEL ABSTINE"; below center print in rows is "THE UNITED STATES enjure the Payment / of the within BILL, and will draw Bills / of Exchange for the Interest annually, if de- / manded, according to a Resolution of CON- / GRESS, of the 18th of March, 1780 / Printed by HALL and SELLERS". (Note. In B.Franklin WRITINGS ed by J.A. Leo Lemay 1987 Franklin explains:"...we have a thorny bush, which a hand seems attempting to eradicate. The hand appears to bleed, as pricked by spines. The motto is, SUSTINE VEL ABSTINE; which may be rendered, Bear with me, or let me alone; or thus, Either support or leave me. The bush I suppose to mean America, the bleeding hand Britian. Would to God that bleeding were stopt, the wounds of that hand healed, and its future operations directed by wisdom and equity; so shall the hawthorn flourish, and form an hedge around it, annoying with her thorns only its invading enemies."

Collection

Van Cortlandt Manor Object Collection

Made/Created

Artist Information

Artist

Henry Dawkins

Attribution

Engraver

Manufacturer

Hall & Sellers

Notes

Date made: July 2,1780

Inscription/Signature/Marks

Type

Inscription

Transcription

See description.

Dimensions

Dimension Description

Overall

Height

2-3/4 in

Width

3-1/2 in

Dimension Notes

Display Dimensions: 2 3/4 x 3 1/2 in. (7 x 8.9 cm)

Material

Paper (laid), ink, mica flakes, blue fibers, watermark

Condition

Notes

Remarks: On back: some ink from the first signer has seeped through paper; on left border 1/2" scotch tape pieces at 3/8" and 3 1/4" from top; general surface discoloration.

Relationships

Related Person or Organization

Person or Organization

Adam Comstock

Notes

Signer

Person or Organization

Caleb Harris

Notes

Signer

Related Entries

Notes

VC.2005.31 - Currency - Similar item VC.2005.32 - Currency - Similar item VC.2005.33 - Currency - Similar item VC.2005.34 - Currency - Similar item VC.2005.35 - Currency - Similar item VC.2005.36 - Currency - Similar item VC.2005.37 - Currency - Similar item VC.2005.12 - Currency - Similar item VC.2005.13 - Currency - Similar item VC.2005.14 - Currency - Similar item VC.2005.15 - Currency - Similar item VC.2005.16 - Currency - Similar item VC.2005.17 - Currency - Similar item VC.2005.18 - Currency - Similar item VC.2005.19 - Currency - Similar item VC.2005.20 - Currency - Similar item VC.2005.21 - Currency - Similar item VC.2005.22 - Currency - Similar item VC.2005.23 - Currency - Similar item VC.2005.24 - Currency - Similar item VC.2005.25 - Currency - Similar item VC.2005.26 - Currency - Similar item VC.2005.27 - Currency - Similar item VC.2005.28 - Currency - Similar item VC.2005.29 - Currency - Similar item

General Notes

Note Type

Curatorial Remarks

Note

Source: Box files to SS from PCR 1951-52. Accessioned July 15, 2005; acquired before; Found in Map drawer at Bellwood. General reference information on Colonial currency is in file folder VC.2005.12

Note Type

StorageNote

Note

Home Location: Historic Hudson Valley, Union Church, Storage, Shelf 29B

Note Type

Department

Note

Curatorial