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Description

United States of America - Continental Loan Office in the State of Massachusetts Bay Fourth of Exchange for $300/1500 Livres Tournois, Payable at Paris Sep. 20, 1779 Anderson US-101-5A. PMG Choice Very Fine 35.
These Bill of Exchange certificates were denominated in dollars and European equivalents depending on whether they were ultimately payable abroad or domestically at an authorized location. They represented the interest payments due for "Money borrowed by the United States" from the federal loan sales made at individual state loan offices as noted at the lower left of the obligations. The majority of surviving examples seen today are either Third or Fourth Bills like this piece.
This Massachusetts Bay certificate is representative of the most commonly encountered "at Paris" series and is printed in red and black on laid paper, watermarked "United States 4." No. 179 appears to have been issued to Joseph Barrell, a prominent Boston merchant and director of the Boston office of the Bank of the United States. It is countersigned by Nathaniel Appleton, a Cambridge merchant and Loan Commissioner for Massachusetts. Declaration of Independence signer Francis Hopkinson has signed as the "Treas'r of Loans." This is a much scarcer large denomination piece, printed primarily in red, with Anderson estimating a surviving population of around 30-75 examples. This is, in fact, the first example we have offered.


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Auction Info

Auction Dates
January, 2026
13th-16th Tuesday-Friday
Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 2
Lot Tracking Activity: N/A
Page Views: 155

Buyer's Premium per Lot:
22% of the successful bid per lot.

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Sold on Jan 13, 2026 for: $1,952.00
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