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16 Shillings Colony of Pennsylvania
| Issuer | Colony of Pennsylvania |
|---|---|
| Year | 1773 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | SIXTEEN SHILLINGS SIXTEEN Shillings According to an Act of General Aſſembly of Penn-ſylvania, paſſed in the 13th Year of the Reign of his majeſty GEORGE the Third. Dated the 20th Day of March, Anno Dom. 1773. B Sixteen Shillings |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | SIXTEEN SHILLINGS To Counterfeit is DEATH. Printed by HALL and SELLERS. 1773. |
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| Comments |
Pennsylvania's 1773 emission was authorized by a provincial assembly that had been fighting the British Board of Trade for decades over the right to issue paper currency — a fight the Currency Act of 1764 had largely settled against the colonies. The 16 shilling denomination is an odd one, chosen to facilitate specific exchange transactions rather than round-sum accounting, a practical colonial habit that strikes modern collectors as arbitrary.
Hall and Sellers printed the series at their Philadelphia shop using the nature-printed leaf borders developed by Benjamin Franklin — a counterfeit deterrent Franklin had pioneered decades earlier and sold to the firm.