Books and Manuscripts

New Hampshire, June 12, 1780. Oblong sheet, 3 1/2 x 7 3/4 in. (90 x 197 mm). Partially-printed third bill of exchange (No. 2922), signed by Signer of the Declaration of Independence from New Jersey, Francis Hopkinson, as Treasurer of Loans, to be paid to Elias Hasket Derby: "At Thirty Days Sight of this Third Bill, First, Second and Fourth not paid, pay to Elias Hasket Derby or Order, Thirty-six Dollars, in One Hundred and Eighty Livres Tournois, for Interest due on Money borrowed by the United States"; counter-signed by Signer of the Constitution from New Hampshire, Nicholas Gilman, as Commissioner of the Continental Loan Office in the State of New Hampshire. Lightly toned; small tears along right side; in mat with a portrait of Hopkinson, and in frame, 14 1/2 x 21 in. (368 x 533 mm). Anderson US 98

Elias Hasket Derby (1739-99) was a merchant from Salem, Massachusetts, who owned and operated a fleet of privateers during the American Revolution. Ships under his control took over 150 prizes during the course of the war, and his family quickly became one of the richest in New England.