 North Carolina Currency. August 21, 1775 Session at Hillsborough Act. One Quarter of a Dollar. No.3694. Four signatures, signed by Andrew Knox, R.[ichard] Caswell, R.[ichard] Cogdell, and Sam.[uel] Johnston. Printed on laid paper (similar to December 1771 Act paper type). 124mm by 75mm. Uniface, ornate left end border, various fonts with 'North Carolina Currency' in Gothic type, and vignette at lower left. Ornate vertical trefoil style key (a Masonic reference?) in hashed circle.
The lowest denomination note on this rare Act date on North Carolina. Notes from this series are rarely seen. The note price listings in Newman were placed there inadvertently (note similarity to the Halifax listings) and was noted in the cataloguing of the Pine Tree Elizabeth Morton Sale in October, 1975. The Morton sale featured the most comprehensive selection of North Carolina Colonial notes catalogued up to that time (112 lots). That auction, held amidst the frenzy for Bicentennial related numismatica such as Colonial coins and paper currency, had four denominations on this session date. However, the Ford-Boyd collection has seven denominations of the authorized nine different. This is an amazing achievement for one collection.
This might be one of the rarest denominations on the issue. The rarest is likely the Two Dollars with no vignette description in Newman and we have no data (though we know of at least one example) for what the vignette design is. This low denomination type would have circulated heavily and survivors would border on nil. The inferior example in Pine tree's Elizabeth Morton sale was classified by Breen as ''possibly unique,'' but more properly very rare is more accurate as the cataloguers on I.U. Willets Road were sometimes subject to prejudicial hyperbole.
Hard to classify the technical grade succinctly as this thin paper note is securely backed to a thin white card. From the face, Very Good or so, but with numerous linear glue stains to the face. Most of the paper is there, the printing clear and the signatures boldly accomplished. Quite acceptable given the rarity of this note. Boyd pencil code ''nyxy'' on back of card and Raymond pencil code at upper left corner.
Ex F.C.C. Boyd Estate; Wayte Raymond.
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