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4 Pence Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
| Issuer | Commonwealth of Pennsylvania |
|---|---|
| Year | 1777 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | John Dunlap, Philadelphia, United States |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Four Pence. THIS Bill ſhall paſs current for Four Pence, according to an Act of General Aſſembly of the Common-Wealth of Pennsylvania, paſſed the Twentieth Day of March, in the Year One Thouſand Seven Hundred and Seventy-ſeven. Dated the tenth Day of April, A. D. 1777. A Groat. |
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| Reverse lettering | To Counterfeit is DEATH! Four Pence. Philadelphia: Printed by John Dunlap. 1777. Four Pence. |
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| Comments |
Pennsylvania's 1777 fractional emission was a direct response to the chronic small-change shortage that plagued the Continental economy throughout the war years. Hard coin had largely vanished from circulation — hoarded, exported, or melted — and low-denomination paper filled the gap for everyday transactions that larger Continental bills couldn't serve.
John Dunlap, who printed this note in Philadelphia, is better known as the man who ran off the first copies of the Declaration of Independence the night of July 4–5, 1776. His press handled both history and the mundane arithmetic of wartime commerce.