Currency

Object/Artifact

Historic Hudson Valley

Name/Title

Currency

Entry/Object ID

VC.2005.34

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 "869" in 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 Acˆt of the Legisl- / 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 "M Bowler" in brown ink and "A Comstock" 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 urn combination; 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 / Exchange for the Interest annually, if de- / manded, according to a Resolution of CON- / GRESS, of the 18th of March, 1780.";below this is the signature of the guaranty signer "Jonˆa Arnold" / "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 redered, 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 front ink from signer on back has seeped through; on back 1/2" scotch tape pieces on left border at 1/2" and 3 1/4" from top; surface discoloration.

Relationships

Related Person or Organization

Person or Organization

Adam Comstock

Notes

Signer

Person or Organization

Metcalf Bowler

Notes

Signer

Person or Organization

Jonathon Arnold

Notes

Signer

Related Entries

Notes

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 VC.2005.30 - Currency - Similar item VC.2005.31 - Currency - Similar item VC.2005.32 - Currency - Similar item VC.2005.33 - 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