Committee for Foreign Affairs, 12 July 1780 to John Jay, enclosing Descriptions and Secret Checks for Bills of Exchange
[In Committee of Foreign Affairs,] 12 July 1780
Sir,
Enclosed you have Description of the Bills of exchange concerning which we have written you. 1 The secret checks accompany it. They are just furnished us by the Treasury-board, and we are sorry that the paper is so indifferent, but hope it will answer the purpose of information– We are assured the copy is exact; it is however necessary to observe that unless the impression of the Bills is very fine & clear, it will be very difficult to discover the whole of the secret checks perfectly. We are, Sir, Your very humble Servants
James Lovell W m : Churchill Houston
Treasury Office Decr. 18th 1779–
The Board of Treasury took into consideration the Resolution of Congress of the 23 d & 29 th of Nov r : last 2 respecting Bills of Exchange on Spain–
Ordered– That the Bills of exchange to be drawn on Spain shall consist of three Denominations and be printed in Types, & Copper plate in Sets of four bills each, according to the following schedule viz t .
That the teint of the Letter press be in red ink, & of the rolling press in blue ink–
That the following check Letters be inserted on each side of the broad Margin–
That the narrow Letter Press border on the right hand be formed of thirteen States 4 interspersed with the denomination of the bill in very small types.
That in the several denominations the word –Commissioner– of the Continental Loan Office in the State of 5 shall be printed & spelled as follows–
That the following be the form of the Bill–
Exchange for 225 Mexican dollars. United States of North America– Day of At Six Months sight of this first of Exchange, second, third, and fourth of the same Tenor and Date unpaid: Pay to the order of two hundred and twenty five Mexican dollars. Value received by the United States
Treasurer of Loans
To the Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States of North America, at the Court of Madrid
HJ Countersigned
Commissioner of the Continental
Loan Office in the State of
In the second denomination the form of the bill shall be like the first denomination, except the figures on the top of the bill, which shall be 333 dollars, and in the Body of the Bill to express that number in types three hundred & thirty three, in all other respects conforming to the directions before given–
In like manner the third denomination shall be printed, inserting the top of the bill the figures 444 dollars, & in the body of the bill the value of these figures in letters conforming in other respects to the directions herein before given–
Extract from the minutes Charles Lee Sec y
There is a broad Margin to the left hand composed of the words –Exchange on public credit– thro– which the knife must pass, leaving part of those letters in the book of the vender, & the remainder on the bills sold–the Bills consist of four Sets, separated by ornamental borders, thro– which the knife must also pass, so that a first & second draft must exactly fit with respect to the engravings, as also must the second & third, & the third & fourth–
In the first bill there is one large dot seeming to be part of the ornament at the bottom of the letter t in the word credit.
In the second bill there are two such dots–viz t –one at the bottom of the letter c , & the other at the bottom of b in the word public –
In the third Bill there are three such dots, viz t : one at the bottom of the tail of the P. one at the end of the flourish of the last stroke of the N . & the third at the bottom of the middle stroke of the N –
In the fourth bill are four such dots viz t : one under the middle stroke of the N –one under the first stroke of the A & two under the X–
In the third bill there is a natural mark in the plate in the finishing stroke of the E in Exchange thus E –
At the top of the first bill & on the left hand, near the broad margin in the first broad stroke of a flourish, on near inspection will be found a figure 1 in white in this position – and there are eleven lines on which the number of the bill is to be written. There is also a manifest irregularity between the fifth & sixth of these lines counting from the bottom, & a slip of the Engraver on the fourth line–lastly in the bottom Ornament, & close to the top thereof near the end of the label containing the word THE will be seen on examination a very small 1 in white–
In the second bill, in the second broad stroke of the flourish to the left hand are two small white spots, & in the dividing boarder immediatey above the o in No. is a small 2 in white– There are ten lines on which the number of the bill is to be written, & a strong natural mark in the plate on the seventh line from the bottom–
In the third bill on the last broad stroke of the left hand flourish is the number III in white– There are eight lines on which the number of the bill is to be written, & in the division border on a leaf neatly over the R is a small figure 3 not white–
In the fourth bill under the first broad stroke of the left hand flourish are four oval drops under E; in the division border is a small figure 4 in white– In the principal stroke of the last flourish is the number III in white– There are twelve strokes on which the number of the bill is to be written & the second of these strokes from the top crosses the finest stroke of the N .
NB. These secret checks are not much to be depended on, as they will very frequently fail for want of great care in the copper plate printer, & owing to the colours being too thick, as well as other accidental causes–
Memorandum of the particular words in the bills of Exchange on Spain–
225 M exican do ll ars Seco n d M exican do ll ars co u rt Ma d ri d
333 M exican do ll ars excha n ge M exican do ll ars Ma d ri d Loa n -Office
444 M exican do ll ars f o rty fo u r Mexican do ll ars Ma d ri d Lo a n Office
Charles Lee Sec y . to the Board of Treasury
N.B. The several letters with a black mark under them in the several words above written are somewhat different from the other letters in the same word–
Cs Lee Sec y .
Honble John Jay