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5 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 | 90 × 70 mm |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | The Pennsylvania Coat of Arms appears as a central vignette, framed by typeset value designations arranged in columns along the top, bottom, and left border. The overall layout is executed in letterpress with ornamental border elements typical of colonial-era currency. The denomination and legislative authority are set in period typography within the body of the note. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | To Counterfeit is Death. FIVE SHILLINGS. Printed by HALL and SELLERS. |
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| Comments |
Hall and Sellers — the Philadelphia printing partnership of David Hall and William Sellers — produced this note at a moment when Pennsylvania's colonial paper currency was functioning unusually well by the standards of the era. Unlike the inflated emissions of several neighboring colonies, Pennsylvania's issues maintained relative stability, partly due to the loan office system that backed them with land security rather than simple government fiat.
The 1773 emission was authorized by the Pennsylvania Assembly under tight constraints imposed by the Currency Act of 1764, which prohibited legal-tender status for colonial paper in private debt transactions. That restriction shaped how these notes circulated and why denominations in this series were kept modest.