Is this 1776 18 pence currency real or imitation?
ricardouno
Posts: 242 ✭✭
I am not knowledgeable in the field of currency, and would like to know whether this item is real or a reproduction. Thanks in advance for any help you may be able to offer.
0
Answers
The real ones were printed on a cotton fibre paper which is why they have lasted so long. This one is printed on a 1960s or 1970s era parchment paper artificially aged. In the 18th century wood pulp hadn't been perfected into making paper, by the time it was in the 19th century paper got really cheap and deteriorated.
Thanks so much for that information it is greatly appreciated !
Reproduction. There are lots of these, for various note designs, printed on the 'parchment' paper, which is not like the actual banknote paper that was used. Another clue is the black printed signature, for real notes, the signature was generally hand-signed in brown ink.
What an authentic one should look like. Of course the signature that is faded is the one that drives up the value of this note precipitously as John Hart would three months later sign a document that would condemn him and his compatriots to an uncertain future of freedom from the mighty British Empire.