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Colonial Currency, NC. August 21, 1775 $4 Hillsborough Issue, Masonic PCGS EF-40

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:4,500.00 USD Estimated At:6,000.00 - 8,000.00 USD
Colonial Currency, NC. August 21, 1775 $4 Hillsborough Issue, Masonic PCGS EF-40
North Carolina Currency
Exceedingly Rare August 21, 1775 North Carolina Four Dollars “Hillsborough” Issue PCGS Extremely Fine-40
North Carolina. August 21, 1775. Four Dollars. “Masonic Emblems or Symbols” vignette. Hillsborough Issue. Signed by (Major General & NC Governor) Richard Caswell, PCGS graded Extremely Fine-40.
Fr. NC-149. This outstanding American Revolutionary War date, historic North Carolina currency rarity is the finest, and highest quality PCGS Certified $4 “Hillsborough” issue note we have offered. Hillsborough issue notes are among the rarest North Carolina paper money emissions as noted by the Friedberg 20th Edition reference “Paper Money of the United States” which simply states, "Very Rare" refecting values of each denomination issued due to rarity. This PCGS graded Extremely Fine-40 note is boldly signed, well centered and overall quite beautiful for this issue. It is printed on laid period paper with an intricate left border design. The engraved “Masonic Symbols” are located within the vignette at lower left, appearing sharp and distinct with all its varied elements appear sharp and crystal clear. To our best knowledge this note is the Finest Known Four Dollars on this issue even with details noted on its holder, stating repaired edge splits. Overall, this nicely centered note has a superior clean, well printed appearance and exhibits choice eye appeal.

Signed by: Samuel Johnston, Richard Cogdell, Richard Caswell, and Andrew Knox, all four signatures are perfectly clear and readable. The “Masonic Emblems” vignette is excellent in all its detail, including the motto “AERA OF MASONRY” around the perimeter. Experienced collectors will recognize its exceptional superior quality. Richard Caswell was an American politician and lawyer who served as the First and Fifth Governor of the U.S. State of North Carolina from 1776 to 1780 and from 1785 to 1787. He also served as a senior officer of militia in the Southern theater of the American Revolutionary War. Ex: John Ford Jr. Collection Sale XV, October 4, 2006 (no lot tag).
Richard Caswell (August 3, 1729 – November 10, 1789) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the first and fifth governor of the U.S. state of North Carolina from 1776 to 1780 and from 1785 to 1787. He also served as a senior officer of militia in the Southern theater of the American Revolutionary War. As a Delegate to the First Continental Congress, he was a signatory of the 1774 Continental Association.

Caswell represented North Carolina in the Continental Congresses of 1774 and 1775. When the militia district of New Bern was formed on May 4, 1776; Caswell was appointed to command that Minuteman region.

As such, he led the Provincial Congress' force at the Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge (1776). Soon after that, the Provincial Congress disbanded minuteman battalions in favor of militia. In 1780, he was commissioned Major General of militia and state troops.

At the Battle of Camden Court House in 1780, his troops fled after Virginia militia broke and ran in panic, exposing him to attack without greater defense, leaving the Continentals behind to suffer defeat.

After his defeat at Camden Court House, Caswell returned home with an unnamed illness. In the meantime, the North Carolina General Assembly appointed William Smallwood of Maryland to the command of North Carolina's militia without informing Caswell, so he resigned on October 21, 1780.

When Smallwood returned to Maryland in January 1781, the General Assembly once again appointed Caswell Major General of militia, and he retained the position until the end of the American Revolution.

Caswell was president of the North Carolina Provincial Congress that wrote the first Constitution of North Carolina in 1776. As the congress adjourned, it elected him acting governor. He took the oath of office on January 16, 1777.

Under the new Constitution, the state Legislature ("General Assembly") re-elected him as the first Governor in April 1777. Caswell stepped down in 1780, as the State Constitution allowed only three consecutive one-year terms to command the militia.