Provenance and the Intrigue of What Historically Important Person Held It--Where Paper Bests Coins
airplanenut
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I've been collecting coins since elementary school. While my interests are varied, I always found it fascinating to think of who may have held an old coin. For the most part, it's a mystery. A few coins have an established provenance to historically important people, and of course many more can be tied to great collections, which were build by important people within numismatics, but who aren't necessarily important to the broader population. A few years ago I was doing a photography project which included photographing (and, of course, touching) the boot scraper from the original Philadelphia Mint. It is all but guaranteed that 200-something years before I took those pictures, George Washington used it. Incredible.
Last year, I decided to look into paper money a bit. Going back to the colonial issues, notes were hand signed, meaning that if a note was signed by someone important, there is no doubt it was handled by that person. The first note I acquired was signed by John Hart, whose signature can be found on the Declaration of Independence (I wrote a post about that here: https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1031816/newp-my-first-paper-purchase-with-a-tie-to-my-earliest-collecting-days-the-declaration-of-indep).
With a little more research, I decided to buy a note signed by Benjamin Levy, the only Jewish signer of Continental Currency. While there isn't much written about him, I was able to dig up enough of his family history to see that his family was among the founders of the Jewish communities of New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore--communities that thrive nearly 300 years later (and to which I have strong ties going back many generations; the first and oldest synagogue in Philadelphia is between Independence Hall and the cemetery where Benjamin Franklin is buried, which itself is across the street from the Mint). I got my first note (the $8 note, which is ex. John J. Ford) in January 2020, and this week acquired a second example (the $3).
While I still think the mystery of who may have held a coin is wonderful--indeed, give me a US issue from the 1790s and I'll wonder if Washington himself held it--I can't help but think that paper provides an even greater historical tie by guaranteeing who handled a given note. True, while many of the most famous historical figures from the time currency was hand-signed were not signing notes--Washington, Jefferson, Hancock, and Franklin, to name a few--there are still treasures to be found among those who did sign notes.
When I acquired the first note, I wrote up a few paragraphs on what I was able to learn about Benjamin Levy and his family:
Moses Raphael Levy (1665-1728) was born in Hanover, Lower Saxony, Germany and moved to the American Colonies in 1695. He became a successful merchant and real estate investor, and helped establish the Jewish community in New York, becoming the president of the first congregation in the colonies, Shearith Israel, and helping to fund the building of the first synagogue in the colonies, which was completed in 1730. His children followed in his footsteps, largely trading between New York and Baltimore.
Two of his sons, Benjamin (1728-1802) and Samson (1722-1781) signed the Non-Importation Agreement of 1765, which was aimed at repealing Britain's Stamp Act, enacted into law earlier that year, by way of merchants agreeing to embargo British imports due to their taxation without representation. Benjamin married Rachel Levy, the daughter of his older half brother, Nathan, who was considered the founding father of Philadelphia Jewry, where he established the Mikveh Israel Cemetery in 1740, shortly thereafter leading to the creation of Mikveh Israel Congregation, today the second oldest synagogue in the United States.
Benjamin was a member of high society in Philadelphia, and in 1773 moved to Baltimore, where he became the first Jew to settle in the city. On December 9, 1773, he put out an advertisement to report the opening of his store at the intersection of Market St. and Calvert St. Benjamin was also tied to the Continental Congress. To help fund the Revolutionary War efforts, the Continental Congress began issuing money (mostly in the form of paper notes) in 1775. Benjamin was one of the official signers of Continental Currency, and the only Jew to have such a role. His son, Nathan, also took a role in the Revolution, fighting under Lafayette in Virginia. Hitting financial straits in 1789, Rachel Levy would write directly to George Washington in an attempt to find work for her son.
While it was intended for Benjamin and Rachel Levy to be buried in Philadelphia, paperwork errors led to that not happening, and both were buried in St. Paul's Cemetery in Baltimore.
Comments
Nice article! I tried collecting paper money, but it is too fragile for me. I don't know why, but I just lost interest in favor of coins. I do have a confederate note somewhere in my SDB
I think it's sort of apples and oranges.
You are essentially collecting historical autographs that happen to be on paper money.
Not all paper money has this level of historical connection. Only hand-signed notes, which date from a particular era.
But that is not to criticize that part of the hobby. Those are fantastic pieces of currency, and I might need to get some!
@airplanenut ... Thanks for that interesting history along with the notes. I agree about the historical mystery of who may have handled coins or artifacts. Certainly signed notes establish a tangible history. Cheers, RickO
When I get an old coin such as an 1847 coin I'll frequently do a web search for "What happened in history in 1847". It really helps to bring the coin alive for me. Coins really are history in your hands.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
I have one raw note and I'm terrified of it. At the least the colonials I have are protected.
I don't disagree with you there. Where I find some extra enjoyment is that because I like coins, paper money was already on my radar as an item of interest, and this gives a new dimension to it. While a famous autograph on its own or at the end of a letter would be neat in its own right, these notes--and yes, there aren't many--gets the autograph and the money. With the New Jersey note I mentioned, that's something I wanted for a long time anyway. Yes, the John Hart signature made it more expensive, but it also made me much more excited about the example I acquired.
My first large cent, which I probably got in 4th grade, is an 1847. Your number made have been chosen randomly, but boy does it resonate with me. That was right around when I was learning about Thomas Edison... who was born in 1847.
I definitely can relate to that.
I have been melding the two hobbies for some time, although in a different way.
For example, here is a WWII Japanese Invasion Money note signed by Hershel W. Williams, the last living WWII Medal of Honor recipient, who earned the MOH during the battle of Iwo Jima.
It is rough, but unlike a lot of later Benjamin Franklin notes that were actually printed by his partner David Hall(the colonial era printer, not the Collectors Universe one!) this one was actually printed by Benjamin Franklin in his shop in Philadelphia for the Delaware colony in 1746. And Franklin was not even halfway through his life and had none of the notoriety for which he is known for until later on.
Here is my John Hart signed note:
One of the signers of this note, the centre signature, is of John Hart. John Hart was born ca. 1711 in Connecticut, his ancestry going into the 17th century in New England. John Hart began a political career with his election to the Hunterdon County Board of Freeholders in 1750, later on he would be elected into the colonial Assembly of New Jersey. When the latter legislature was dissolved he joined the Committee of Safety and the Committee of Correspondence. He would go on to become a member of the first New Jersey provincial congress, and was elected it's vice president in early 1776. During the First Continental Congress this assembly was opposed to independence and was subsequently dissolved. Mr. Hart would then join a new assembly, this time in favour of independence and would a mere few months after signing this note, go on to join the New Jersey delegation that signed the Declaration of Independence. As he was now a marked man by the British, during the Battle of Trenton he had to go into hiding. During that time his farm was raided and damaged by British and Hessian soldiers, but the defeat of the British at the battle permitted his return to his home. Hart would continue to serve New Jersey as an assemblyman, and Committee of Safety member until his death in 1779.
Add that to my list!
I was always fascinated with the signers of paper money and lottery tickets, this particular lottery ticket being no small exception. For indeed, it was signed by William Pepperell (1696-1759), a notable from Maine history and even colonial American history. William Pepperell was a commander of the militia early in his career and would thence become Chief Justice of Massachusetts-Bay in 1730. He became the first native born American to become a Baronet in 1746, and was received by George II in 1749. He earned this distinguished honour in his military exploits during "King George's War" of 1744-48 where he commanded troops that besieged Ft. Louisbourg in French Canada and forced the French to surrender. During the French and Indian War he became a major general and for a short time governor of Massachusetts-Bay. He must have signed this ticket in 1758, as he took seriously ill in early 1759 and would die mid the following summer. His home in Kittery was built in 1682 and still stands and is entered in the National Historic Register.
Whilst it would appear unduly economical to us in the 21st century, paper was quite dearly expensive during the 18th century - for that reason the lottery tickets were printed on the unprinted side of an older document, notice the signature of Rishworth Jordan on the reverse of the ticket. He was a prominent jurist from Winter Harbour in what is now Maine. During the American revolution he was appointed Chief Justice in the Massachusetts-Bay colony. He lived a very long life for the time, having been born in 1719, he would live until 1808.
Of the 23 known lotteries that were operating in Massachusetts-Bay during the time, this particular is the only one that was located in the Maine Province. This piece seemed otherwise insignificant in how I purchased it when I was a teenager, now it is appreciated as a rare relic from an uncommon place to find 18th century fiscal documents from.