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MCHENRY, JAMES

Currency:USD Category:Everything Else / Other Start Price:NA Estimated At:300.00 - 400.00 USD
MCHENRY, JAMES
(1753 - 1816) Signer of the Constitution, Secretary of War, and private secretary to George Washington and Lafayette. War date A.L.S. 2pp. small 4to., Camp Vamunky [?], Aug. 10, 1781 to Virginia Governor Thomas Nelson, Jr. McHenry writes in part: ""...I make haste to correct what I mentioned in council respecting the paper currency of Maryland. The money when I left that state was mainly expiring, and I have been since informed it had still further declined. What as been the final fate of this money I do not know But to-day I am honored with a letter from Governor Lee, in which he says 'you are to be informed of a circumstance still more extraordinary, and that is - the new paper money emitted in virtue of the act of the last session papers through this state as gold and silver'..."". One of the most daunting problems facing the new country was inflated paper currency. Most states issued the paper backed by the land available in the state which was very plentiful. The fact that Maryland had issued notes actually backed by precious metals is very surprising. Mounting strip along left margin, usual folds, otherwise very good.