Books and Manuscripts

Printed Bill of Exchange, signed three times
Rhode Island, December 7, 1778. One sheet, 11 1/2 x 8 3/8 (292 x 213 mm). Partially-printed group of three uncut sight drafts, being the second, third, and fourth bills of exhange, issued to Connecticut merchant and Major General of the Connecticut militia, Jabez Huntington (1719-86) for $36, "in One Hundred and Eighty Livres Tournois, for Interest due on Money borrowed by the United States"; each signed by Declaration of Independence signer, Francis Hopkinson, as Treasurer for the Continental Loan-Office; each counter-signed by Joseph Clarke, as Commissioner of the Continental Loan-Office in the State of Rhode Island; each signed by Huntington on verso. Creasing from original folds; small open tears along right side, affecting "H" in Hopkinson's second signature. Anderson 11A

Rare uncut sheet of the three exchanges.

Together with:

Printed Bill of Exchange, signed
Pennsylvania, February 25, 1779. One sheet, 3 3/4 x 8 1/4 in. (95 x 209 mm). Partially-printed sight draft, being the third of exchange, issued to Jacob Arndt for $12, "in Sixty Livres Tournois, for Interest due on Money borrowed by the United States", signed by Hopkinson, as Treasurer for the Continental Loan-Office; counter-signed by Thomas Smith, as Commissioner of the Continental Loan-Office in Pennsylvania; signed by Arndt on verso; additonally inscribed on verso, transferring payments to William Bingham, signed by John Benezet, and further endorsed by Bingham, in French, dated July 13, 1779. Lightly worn. Includes an engraved portrait of Hopkinson. Anderson 10A

Together with:

Printed Promissory Note
No place, January 14, 1780. One sheet, 5 1/4 x 9 7/8 in. (133 x 251 mm). Partially-printed promissory note, issued to a John Moore, for repayment of $600 "with Interest anually, at the Rate of Six per Cent. per Annum", signed by Hopkinson as Treasurer for the Continental Loan-Office. Creasing from original folds; edges worn. Lot includes a T.L.s from Barclays Bank, dated 1961, regarding collecting on the then 181-year-old note. Anderson US 51.

Francis Hopkinson (1737-91) was a signer of the Declaration of Independence as a delegate from New Jersey, as well as an author, composer, and scholar.