Virginia $100 Bill

Name/Title

Virginia $100 Bill

Entry/Object ID

2025.7.1

Description

Indented uniface bill, printed on thin laid paper with a border of decorative cuts including No., XXX. POUNDS., Virginia 100 Dol. 1778., One Hundred DOLLARS., and the serial number 1953 in manuscript. Central text block reads: ONE Hundred Spanish milled Dollars, or the Value thereof in Gold or Silver, to be given in Exchange for this Bill at the Treasury of Virginia, pursuant to an Act of Assembly passed October the 5th, 1778. Signed by Bolling Stark and Edward Archer.

Made/Created

Date made

10/5/1778

Time Period

18th Century

Place of Origin

City

Williamsburg, Virginia

Banknote Details

Denomination

100

Issuing Authority

Treasury of Virginia

Production Dates

10/5/1778

Serial Number

1953

Obverse

Transcription

No. 1953 XXX. POUNDS. Virginia. 100 Dol. 1778. ONE Hundred Spanish milled Dollars, or the Value thereof in Gold or Silver, to be given in Exchange for this Bill at the Treasury of Virginia, pursuant to an Act of Assembly passed October the 5th, 1778. [signed] Bolling Stark Edward Archer One Hundred DOLLARS.

Dimensions

Width

3-1/2 in

Length

6 in

Composition

Material

Paper, Ink

Provenance

Notes

The Treasury of Virginia issued this $100 bill under the governorship of Patrick Henry. Payable in silver coin, this early “C Note” was printed from a form made completely of type. Furthermore, it has an irregularly cut elaborate left-side border, making it a verifiable “indented” bill. The note bears two signatures: Bolling Stark (or Starke) (1733–1788) and Edward Archer II (1747–1807). Bolling Stark was a member of the House of Burgesses in 1761 and 1770, and a delegate of the Fifth Virginia Convention of 1776. Thomas Jefferson appointed him to be a state auditor in 1781. He was also on the Governor's Council. Edward Archer II was a treasurer in Norfolk and the first treasurer of Virginia. Joseph E. Winston (1942–living), a fourth-great-grandson of Patrick Henry, donated this bill, along with a collection of others, on June 17, 2025.