1776 Newjersey One Shilling

Nice looking note. Is it genuine or a repo?
John1

Front looks good, but the back looks a little off...

Very nice!

From the Newman text, 81,250 1s notes were printed of this emission, of plates A, B, and C (you can see the "A" to the right of the King's arms). Signers are Robert Smith, Jonathan Deare, and John Stevens Jr. I believe the nature print on the back is a sage leaf. Hold it up to be light, and you should see a watermark...

Yeah. Has the New Jersey watermark. Also has the mica chips in the paper. Was hoping for some insight into the signers? Too bad it is not John Hart....

That is a very cool note! Congratulations.

Here's a little excerpt from a chapter on the background of the printer, Isaac Collins, if you're interested - It has even more links with Ben Franklin:


Isaac Collins apprenticed to a printing shop, under Master Printer James Adams. James Adams had previously worked many years at the printers Hall and Sellers. He finished his last year of apprenticeship working for William Rind in Williamsburg, Virginia. On his 21st birthday, Isaac Collins finished his apprenticeship and sought out his own way in the world. He went to Philadelphia, PA to work as a journeyman printer with William Goddard for about 4 years.

In 1770, during a religious meeting, Collins met Joseph Crukshank, who had just set up his own printing office the year prior. They hit it off and began a partnership, and started working together. They did not work together long, however, and later that year, Isaac Collins set up shop in Burlington, New Jersey at 206 High Street, the very same printing shop that Ben Franklin had once used.

In June 1776, Isaac Collins refused a printing job for the Colonial Governor, William Franklin (the estranged son of Benjamin Franklin), who had been arrested for violating the provincial laws of forbidding any government to exist that was subjected to the British Crown. William Franklin wanted to address the public and the assembly by publishing his testimony, but Collins steadfastly refused, believing that it would serve no good purpose to the revolutionary cause.

The Quakers decided to "disown" Collins due to his support of the revolution, its government and military actions (his exemption of military service to provide newspaper service to the new government was seen as being akin to military service by the Quakers.) This must have hurt Collins deeply, but his faith in the new government outweighed his faith in the tenets of his church, at least for the time being. Fortunately, his ‘disownment' applied only to him and not to his family, who were allowed to join the church in Trenton. Collins remained separated from the church for almost ten years.

He had printed all manner of products, from paper money to books, newspapers to magazines. In 1789 he decided to print what he and others would consider his most important item yet. Collins was to print an English language bible, only the second printing in the Americas. His experience and adherence to quality ensured him the backing he needed to undertake this task. What was to be known as the Collin's Bible was a King James Version, was released as early as January 11, 1792 and was renowned for its accuracy, having far less mistakes than other bibles were known to have.

I like it Vinnie!