$20 Dollar Continental Currency Note, May 10, 1775, Marbled Paper
Signed by Shee and Lawrence. Printed on polychrome marbled edge paper supplied by Benjamin Franklin. Imprint of Hall and Sellers. Face and back emblem motifs designed by Franklin. A very important American currency type. Listed as No.79 in the Bowers & Sundman ‘’100 Greatest Currency Notes’’.
The emblem on the front shows a strong wind creating waves on the ocean with the motto "Vi concitatae" (It assults with a violent force). On the back is a emblem with the shining sun and ships on a calm sea with the motto "Cessante vento conquiescemus" (When the wind subsides we shall rest). Newman has discovered a preliminary sketch for the front emblem in the papers of Benjamin Franklin. The $20 bill from this first emission was unique in that it was a different size from all other continental currency and was made on different paper. It was printed by Hall and Sellers on a thin white paper with a marbled left border that had been made by Benjamin Franklin. Unlike the other bills they were printed individually rather than in sheets. Also, since this note was the only Contenental Congress not that did not include border cuts, it was the only Continental Congress variety that did not include the phrase "The United Colonies" (later changed to "The United States").
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