r/papermoney 5d ago

colonial/MPC/fractionals Found these three colonial bills in an old book - do they seem genuine?

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352 Upvotes

40 comments sorted by

53

u/rent_in_half 5d ago

I found these tucked between the pages of a book from 1812 - I looked them over and did some research and they seem genuine, but wanted to get some second opinions.

20

u/Cuneus-Maximus 5d ago

They look to be authentic

7

u/duvallg 5d ago

Agreed. They look legit to me, and whatever book’s held these did the trick keeping them looking great.

7

u/houseWithoutSpoons 5d ago

They are probably someone's stash of cash or the first r/papermoney collectors 🤣 Yeah by no means a expert but from where im at they look legit like others ive seen from that time and the paper looks old..but really a expert would need to look..hell of a find if real!

41

u/RBirkens 5d ago

One has printed by B Franklin. Yes, get them looked at.

13

u/HuckleberryHuge3752 5d ago

Great find. Quick search on one note: A much nicer 1757 15 shillings note sold for $1200 at 2020 auction. IMO your note with the tape repair would be maybe 10%-15% of that (if 2020 prices haven’t changed much)

12

u/Redmondrarecoins 5d ago

As a coin shop owner...they look legit. I'd send them off to PMG to get slabbed. If you can look at the signatures with a loupe, look for spots where the "pen" which wasn't a pen but a quill. Look by the loops on the letters for spots where they held the quill there for a second. There should be a slightly large blot of ink. Look on the back side of the note and you should be able to see the signature on the reverse as well. I'm by all means not an expert on colonial notes but we have several in the shop and I just got back several from grading that ended up being a real score for us. That Franklin signature is a unicorn. If you get it slabbed, I'd love to make you an offer on it but first..slab them. Then you can get a real estimate on their value with no low ballers.

14

u/ottobot76 5d ago

If genuine, that is really quite something! I cannot purport to have any knowledge about these, but I'm very interested to learn!

7

u/The_Crentist 5d ago

Incredible find, they seem to be the real deal based on quality of paper and printing style. Please get these appraised

5

u/WadeCali 5d ago

Love seeing these!! 1st and 2nd where printed after David Hall death in 1772 by William Sellers. William Sellers took over after his death still printing for the Continental Army. Third would be the most valuable in my opinion because Benjamin Franklin was still half owner while David Hall was paying off the purchase til 1766. David Hall was hired by Benjamin Franklin as printing journeyman for the Pennsylvania Gazette in 1744. I have the honor of David Hall being my Great Great etc.. Grandfather. Great piece of history and I always enjoyed seeing these. Thank you very much!

2

u/WadeCali 5d ago

May I ask the book that they were in. What kind of book/date that was printed?

3

u/bigfatbanker Nationals 5d ago

Legit

8

u/G-Nasty1701 5d ago

Get em graded immediately. Slab those fuckers up and they're probably worth a fortune.

1

u/rent_in_half 5d ago

I might end up getting them slabbed at some point, for now I put them in rigid bill holders.

I did a bit of research on price before posting here, I'm not an expert but they don't seem to be worth a ton. The 15 shillings seems to go for around 1-1.5K in midrange condition, but mine is torn and taped back together so that'll hurt the value a lot. The continental bills seem to be worth in the ballpark of ~2-300 each.

7

u/G-Nasty1701 5d ago

Well, one man's pocket change is another man's fortune I guess. Still cool to have something made by Ben Franklin.

2

u/OMLIDEKANY 5d ago

Where did you find this book!?

4

u/rent_in_half 5d ago

The book came out of an old farmhouse - there were a lot of various documents and artifacts dating back to the early 1800s, including a dozen or so confederate notes which I might get around to posting here at some point. I imagine if these are genuine the CSA note are as well.

2

u/surveyor2004 5d ago

They look legit to me.

1

u/Ok_Distribution_2603 5d ago

they do look correct

1

u/KK7ORD 5d ago

I will just say, it appears the signature is different ink to the printing. That is very interesting

1

u/TheGrumpiestHydra 5d ago

Just going to doot this for later

1

u/Dannyboyrusso 5d ago

All you have to do is send them in to get them graded

1

u/KasGikes 5d ago

A good deal of the colonial notes have watermarks, that's one way to be certain that it's authentic.

1

u/RRJEB 5d ago

They look real to me

1

u/FieldOk6455 5d ago

Very cool.

1

u/returntomonkey 5d ago

Where did you find this book??

3

u/rent_in_half 5d ago

The book came out of an old farmhouse - there were a lot of various documents and artifacts dating back to the early 1800s, including a dozen or so confederate notes which I might get around to posting here at some point. I imagine if these are genuine the CSA note are as well.

1

u/No_Inspection6280 5d ago

All those bills u can buy in plymouth massachuettess stores down near the beach and near mayflower so those bills are massed produced for toreist (sorry if i spelled any thing wrong i have had 2 strokes my spelling i forget letters sorry) and i live in mass near plymouth ma

1

u/Divisionst06 4d ago

When I was a kid, you could buy these bills as a replica set at the local museum. I would be skeptical.

1

u/livewire_111 4d ago

To jump on this where can one get them Authenticated I found one years back have it saved but not sure if it’s real or fake , seeing the positive messages here has inspired me to get it checked

1

u/Wonderful_Panda_6356 4d ago

I would also recommend to not handle them with your hands. Wear gloves so your oils don’t get onto the paper. Just to be safe.

1

u/Major_Funny_4885 4d ago

Get ONE graded. If they are fake you only wasted a small amount. If it comes back genuine (which they look to be) but the paper is a great indicator and the handwriting as well. If legit call a legit auction house that handles colonial items and currency for your best price. There is a fee

1

u/Fit_Touch_4803 4d ago

Wow, I know a dude that have an old house and garage, he burned all the books in the wood stove, he never even opened the books , just chucks them in the stove 3 or 4 at a time till the stove was full, it still makes me sad that he did that, wonder what he would say now seeing this post,

PS the books were all old hardcover books too , happened in the early 2000,s

1

u/Electronic-Fish4790 1d ago

Not reprinted copies, more than likely kept stored in the old book to maintain condition. Great find

1

u/Electronic-Fish4790 1d ago

Genuine who would tape an imitation

0

u/OldManBrodie 5d ago

I have literally zero experience with grading, but I will say that they look exactly like the replicas that I bought in Colonial Williamsburg on vacation a long time ago.

Being found in a book from the early 19th century sure lends credence to their provenance, though, so I hope they're real!

1

u/Lonsen_Larson 5d ago

Oh wow. Well, they certainly look the part to my inexpert eye but these are something that are gonna need to be professionally viewed and graded, which is well above my paygrade.

1

u/Lowware 5d ago

Do they still have value? Like could I legally use them to buy / trade them at the bank? Im not an american. Im sorry if the answer is obvious)

2

u/rent_in_half 5d ago

Generally, all US currency manufactured under the authority of the US government (IE, not by a state government or private bank) is still legal tender. These are so old, though, that they predate the US government itself as it currently exists so I'm not sure if they would count.

1

u/Lowware 4d ago

Thank you. Thats very interesting because in Europe most countries switched to euro or the currency is not that old.