Maryland Currency
Pleasing April 10, 1774 Maryland Colonial Currency Note
Maryland, April 10, 1774, One Dollar, PMG graded Very Fine-30.
Fr. MD-66. Perhaps the most commonly encountered of all Maryland Colonial currency issues. Fully Signed by, W.(illiam) Eddis and J.(ohn) Clapham. Printed on clean crisp appearing, lightly circulated laid period paper stock. A Spanish silver eight-real or "Spanish dollar" Coin vignette protector is printed at top center, a hand with its pointing finger directly towards the Spanish Dollar Coin is seen placed on either side. This issue, "Printed by A.C. and F. Green" with the legend "Tis DEATH to Counterfeit" on the top edge of the reverse side.
The silver real (Spanish: real de plata) was the currency of the Spanish colonies in America and the Philippines. In the seventeenth century the Silver Real was established at two billon reals (reales de velln) or sixty-eight maraveds. Gold escudos (worth 16 reales) were also issued.
The coins circulated throughout Spain's colonies and beyond with the eight-real piece, known in English as the "Spanish dollar", becoming an international standard and spawning, among other currencies, the United States dollar.
A reform in 1737 set the Silver real at two and half billon reals (reales de velln) or eighty-five maraveds. This coin, called the real de plata fuerte, became the new standard, issued as coins until the early 19th century.
KEYWORDS:
Colonial Currency, Paper Money, Early Paper Money of America, Maryland Currency, Maryland Paper Money, Colonial America, Printing Paper Money, Revolutionary War, George Washington, Continental Congress, Independence Hall, Fiat Currency, Currency Printing, Benjamin Franklin, First Issue