Pennsylvania note printed by Franklin
18 June 1764 (as printed) ・ paper ・ 18th century ・ Colony of Pennsylvania
'Printed by B. FRANKLIN, and D. HALL.' — the name is printed on the back of this three-pence note of the colony of Pennsylvania, dated 18 June 1764. It was printed by Benjamin Franklin, who wrote a defence of paper money in 1729 and took on the printing of colonial notes himself. The printer, known also for the device of pressing leaf patterns into the paper against counterfeiting, would later be called a founding father. Paper money was born in Massachusetts in 1690 and had spread through the colonies. And in the same year as this paper, 1764, the British Parliament restricted and forbade legal-tender paper in all the colonies through the Currency Act — the question of sovereignty over money was raised here for the first time.