Colonial America
1739 Massachusetts Bay Treasurer Signed Broadside Regarding "Proportion between the Bills of the old and new Tenor in private Payments." Colonial Currency Notes Issued
November 12, 1739-Dated, Province of Massachusetts Bay, Partially Printed Broadside Document, Signed by William Foye as Treasurer of the Colony, Concerning a New Issue of Colonial Currency Notes for the Colony and the Collecting of Taxes, Very Fine.
This document, complete with a large engraving of the British Royal Arms and initials of King George II, was issued and signed by William Foye, the Treasurer and Receiver General for Colonial Massachusetts. The printed form is directed to the Constable or Collector (of taxes), in this case, for the town of Middleton. The first paragraph of this 12.25" x 7.5" document, reads in part:
"By Virtue of an Act of the Great and General Court .... of May 1737... An Act for supplying the Treasury with the Sum of Twenty Thousand Pounds in Bills of Credit of the new Tenor for discharging the publick debts, etc. And for establishing the Wages of sundry Persons, etc. in the Service of the Province, and for the drawing in of the said Bills into the Treasury again; and for stating the Proportion between the Bills of the old and new Tenor in private Payments."
The remaining paragraphs describe how taxes were to be collected, apparently in part, at least, to remove the "Bills of Credit" from circulation. This document is in nice condition, with light age toning, some damp staining, edge tears and an archivally reinforced split along the center fold. The printing is strong, the writing clear, and the official seal in the upper left is intact.
William Foye was Treasurer of Colonial Massachusetts, a member of the Governor's Council (1741-1751), and an Overseer of Harvard University during 1741-1749.