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4 Dollars
| Issuer | Colony of Virginia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1777 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Dollar |
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| Obverse description | The face of this colonial emission is framed within a typographic border combining scrollwork and foliate ornament on all four sides, with an engraved allegorical vignette at left showing a standing female figure holding a spear and sword above the Virginia motto "SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS". The principal text, set in roman and italic letterpress, occupies the right portion of the note and specifies the note's value in Spanish milled dollars redeemable at the Treasury of Virginia pursuant to the Act of Assembly passed 20 October 1777. The denomination "iv Dol." appears at the foot of the note in letterpress, with two manuscript ink signatures at the lower right. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | FOUR SPANISH MILLED DOLLARS, or their Value in GOLD or SILVER, to be given in EXCHANGE for this Bill at the TREASURY of VIRGINIA, purſuant to ACT OF ASSEMBLY paſſed Oct 20, 1777 SIC SEMPER TYRANNUS iv Dol. |
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| Comments |
Virginia's Revolutionary War currency was authorized by the colony's General Assembly in a series of acts beginning in 1775, and by 1777 the printing program was well underway to fund militia pay and supply procurement. These notes were legal tender within Virginia but circulated well beyond its borders — and depreciated accordingly. Continental inflation was brutal; by 1781, Virginia currency had collapsed almost entirely, with exchange rates against hard money reaching hundreds to one.
The $4 denomination is one of several unusual fractional values that emerged because Virginia's Assembly was trying to bridge Spanish milled dollar equivalencies with British pound accounting. Counterfeiting was a documented problem throughout the series.