REPORT OF NEW JERSEY STATE MUSEUM, n 



valuable collection may be properly safeguarded and displayed. He said that 

 he was in touch with other citizens who would, doubtless, contribute collec- 

 tions to the Museum as the final resting place for them if the State provided 

 adequate facilities for properly displaying them. 



MR. sterIvIng's description. 



E. B. Sterling, of this city, long a well-known collector, says the Ackerman 

 collection is the finest he has ever seen of paper money of Continental issue, 

 and the State is to be congratulated upon receiving it. He has written the 

 following description of each piece in the set : 



Paper money issued by the thirteen original Colonies of North America 

 was first issued by Massachusetts in 1690 followed by Connecticut and New 

 York, both in 1709. 



Rhode Island, 1715 Pennsylvania, 1723 



New Jersey, 1724 South Carolina, 1731 



Delaware, 1735 New Hampshire, 1737 



Maryland, 1740 South Carolina, 1748 



Georgia, 1749 Virginia, 1755 



Vermont issued State paper money in 1781. 



The fight for American liberty began at Lexington, Mass., nineteenth of 

 April, 1775, and on the tenth day of May the second Continental Congress 

 assembled, one of the first acts being to issue paper money of various denomi- 

 nations. 



DESCRIPTION OF THE NOTES. 



These bills give abundant evidence of the haste with which they were pre- 

 pared, being a combination of type with engraved borders and circular 

 vignette, having a Latin motto above. The bill reads, The United Colonies 

 (with value repeated) at top and bottom ; Continental Currency (with value 

 repeated) at each side ; in body of note : "This bill entitles the bearer to 

 receive Spanish milled dollars, or the value thereof, in gold or silver, ac- 

 cording to the resolutions of the Congress, held at Philadelphia the loth of 

 May, 1775." Each note numbered in ink, signed by two of the committee, 

 one signing in red and one in black ink. The reverse represents a crude 

 imitation of leaves of various trees, different on each value, with the denomi- 

 nation above: "Philadelphia, Printed by Hall and Sellers, 1775"; below: 

 the whole enclosed in a tj-pe border composed of pieces of various patterns 

 evidently selected to add to the difficulty on counterfeiting. The engraved 

 parts were cut on type by an English gun engraver named Smithers. This 

 style of work was adopted so that the bills could be rapidly produced on the 

 ordinary printing presses of the period. 



The devices selected for the various values (which were retained for the 

 same denominations throughout the series), were very odd and quaint and 

 showed the spirit and earnestness of the committee who furnished the designs 

 and fitted each with an appropriate Latin motto, supposed to cheer the 

 patriots and depress the invaders and tories. 



