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Colonial Currency, South Carolina. December 23, 1776. $8 Sailing Ship vignette

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:500.00 USD Estimated At:650.00 - 850.00 USD
Colonial Currency, South Carolina. December 23, 1776. $8 Sailing Ship vignette
South Carolina Currency
Fully Issued 1776 Act South Carolina Eight Dollars Note
South Carolina. December 23, 1776 Act. Eight Dollars. “Sailing Ship” vignette. PCGS graded Very Fine-35.
Fr. SC-141. This 1776 date Revolutionary War period note bears the motto: “MULTORUM SPES” located above the Sailing Ship vignette at lower left, which translates from the Latin: “The Hope of Many.” This note is quite rare in that it is fully signed and issued with a serial number. It is well printed for text and designs with excellent centering to its face within four close even margins. The signatures range from dark to light and it has a very sharp vignette along with four special typeset Hebrew text letters that were used as decorative and anti-counterfeiting devices, having come from the press text of the historic Jewish American Patriot Francis Salvador.
Francis Salvador by Esther Pavao:

Francis Salvador was a courageous man, the first Jew to hold a government position in the British colonies, and also the first Jew to die in the American Revolution. He is the epitome of the American dream, the idea that someone can rise from poverty, overcome social and religious differences, and fight their way to the top, in battle if necessary, or in politics.

Francis Salvador was almost immediately swept up in a whirlwind of Revolution, which he joined wholeheartedly, befriending the southern patriot leaders. He was elected to the South Carolina General Assembly in 1773, within a year after arriving and at only 27 years old. It was technically illegal for a Jew to hold office or even vote, but no one objected to Salvador holding the post, and he served until his death. In doing so, he became the first Jew to hold office in any of the English colonies.

He was responsible for writing up the state's constitution and served on several small committees, eventually being chosen to serve on South Carolina's Provincial Congress in 1774, helping write up a bill of rights and a letter of complaint to the royal governor of South Carolina outlining their complaints against the king. It was here that Salvador was chosen to try and convince the Tories to change their position and join the Patriots.

He served again in the second South Carolina provincial congress in 1775, strongly championing independence and arguing that South Carolina's delegates to the Continental Congress should vote for independence from England. He also fought for payment to be made to soldiers in the Continental army.

Early in 1776, the British convinced their Native American allies to attack the towns on the South Carolina frontier to create a diversion, keeping troops from attending the redcoat attack on the coast. On July 1, 1776, the Indians attacked, and Francis Salvador rode 28 miles to Major Williams and gave the alarm. He then fought in the following engagements. On July 31, 1776, Major Williamson captured two loyalists who then led Williamson and his men into an ambush laid by their fellow loyalists and the Native Americans.

Francis Salvador was shot and fell into some bushes where the Indians found him and scalped him. He died of his wounds some 45 minutes later.

A Colonel William Thompson wrote:

"Here, Mr. Salvador received three wounds; and, fell by my side. . . . I desired [Lieutenant Farar], to take care of Mr. Salvador; but, before he could find him in the dark, the enemy unfortunately got his scalp: which, was the only one taken. . . . He died, about half after two o'clock in the morning: forty-five minutes after he received the wounds, sensible to the last. When I came up to him, after dislodging the enemy, and speaking to him, he asked, whether I had beat the enemy? I told him yes. He said he was glad of it, and shook me by the hand – and bade me farewell – and said, he would die in a few minutes."

In 1950, to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Charleston's Jewish congregation, the City of Charleston erected a memorial to Francis Salvador, the first Jew to die for the American Revolution.