By Rob Shenk

In June of 1775, South Carolina’s Provincial Congress – the colony’s increasingly independent government – approved the issuance of £1,000,000 worth of paper currency.   Parliament’s longstanding colonial policy of limiting access to hard currency in its American colonies, coupled with South Carolina’s recently enacted import/export ban, had exacerbated South Carolina’s cash shortage. If the colony was to fund an ongoing resistance to the Crown, it would need money now — and a lot of it.

Printing paper currency was not a new concept in 1775. South Carolina had printed paper money at various times throughout its history, dating back to 1703. While the June 1775 issuance largely kept with past colonial precedents, signs of increasing defiance could be found on each new issuance.

Much like today’s U.S. currency, which incorporates the motto “E Pluribus Unum” into its design, each South Carolina paper money denomination included its own Latin phrase. And it is in these Latin phrases, likely only understood by South Carolina’s educated elite, that we can detect the colony’s growing shift towards defiance of the mother country and then its pursuit of independence. Thus, printed on each one of these paper notes were the words that Congress wanted its population to embody. Let’s look at some of those symbols and messages in actual examples of South Carolina paper money below. 

June 1775 Issuance

The £1,000,000 of paper currency approved in June of 1775 was a considerable amount for the colony.   South Carolina’s patriots were already moving quickly to adopt a more resolute and militant defiance of the Crown by this stage. In April of 1775, members from the newly formed Committee of Safety had raided Royal arms and gunpowder storage sites. News of the Battles of Lexington and Concord had finally reached Charleston. And in this very month, the Provincial Congress would approve of the formation of two regiments of militia – the 1st and 2nd South Carolina regiments.

South Carolina £50 Note – June 1775

South Carolina Fifty Pounds Note. Image Credit: Eric P. Newman Numismatic Education Society

This £50 note incorporates an elaborate design along its left border. In the lower right corner of this note is a circular motif or vignette featuring a lady, her head bowed, sitting beneath a tree. To her right, a brilliant sunrise rises over a city skyline. The Latin phrase around the border – Post Tenebras Lux – translates to “After Darkness, Light.” Indeed, the message here is one of hope in the face of dark times, much like the times many in South Carolina faced in 1775.

During this period, each South Carolina note required the signature of six of its Provincial Congress members. As you can see in this example, three signatures are in the bottom left, and another three, printed vertically, are to the left of the vignette. 

South Carolina £50 Note (Reverse)

Higher denomination notes from the June 1775 issuance included an elaborate design on their reverse sides.  In addition to the intricate ribbons and lines is the saying, in English, “For The Publick Good.”  Providing the colony with enough money for its expanding needs was seen by the Provincial Congress as an important “publick good.”  Of course, £50 Notes such as this one would have only been in the hands of the wealthiest portions of the population.

South Carolina £20 Note – June 1775

South Carolina Twenty Pounds Note. Image Credit: Eric P. Newman Numismatic Education Society

This £20 note from the June issuance incorporates a different and intricate design along its left border. Not only did this kind of design element add a sophisticated look to the note, but it was also designed to foil counterfeiters. Notes like this one were cut from larger sheets, and a small portion of the left border was left with the Provincial Congress. Matching a note up to its stub was one way to verify whether the note in hand was counterfeit or not.

In the beautiful circular vignette at the bottom right, two hands grasp one another with quills in their palms. Above the clasped hands are the Latin words – Fides Publica, which roughly translates as Credibility of the Government. As South Carolina began to issue more of its own currency, faith in the new government and this paper currency was necessary for it to function. However, as would be painfully experienced later in the Revolutionary War, the ability to print more and more money without securing its value would lead to ruinous inflation and a complete lack of faith in increasingly worthless Continental scrip.

South Carolina £10 Note – June 1775

South Carolina Ten Pounds Note. Image Credit: Eric P. Newman Numismatic Education Society

This £10 note has a simpler overall design, befitting a lower denomination note. Its circular vignette includes the image of an armored arm holding a sword with the date 1775 underneath. And the Latin saying – Et Deus Omnipotens – roughly translates to “And God Almighty.”  The Provincial Congress is clearly indicating here that not only does it possess almighty military power, but that it also has God on its side.

South Carolina £5 Note – June 1775

This £5 note includes a striking vignette of twelve arrows tied together – a symbol of how the unified American colonies possessed great strength.  This very military-centered image, one that is still used today in U.S. currency, is then paired with the Latin saying – Auspicium Salutis – “An auspice of well-being.”

“For Liberty” – November 1775 Issuance

In November of 1775, the South Carolina Provincial Congress approved the issuance of an additional £120,000. By this time, the crisis between the Crown and South Carolina’s patriots continued to escalate. Threats had driven South Carolina’s Royal Governor, Lord William Campbell, and his family out to reside on a Royal Navy warship in the harbor. The first battles of the Revolutionary War in South Carolina took place in Charleston Harbor and at Ninety-Six.  Where compromise and reconciliation were once hoped for, it was becoming clearer that the current crisis was likely headed for a military showdown.

South Carolina £3 note – November 1775

South Carolina Three Pounds Note. Image Credit: Eric P. Newman Numismatic Education Society

This £3 note from the November 1775 issuance includes a newly styled left margin design with intertwining ribbons and floral motifs.  In the bottom right is a vignette encircled with laurel (or oak) leaves around a large cannon.  Above the cannon is the Latin inscription, Ultima Ratio – “The Final Argument.”   This £3 note posits that South Carolina’s “final argument” with Great Britain was likely to be made through the barrel of a cannon.

South Carolina £2,10s Note – November 1775

South Carolina Two Pounds Ten Shillings Note. Image Credit: Eric P. Newman Numismatic Education Society

This £2/10 Shillings note include a different left margin design and a striking vignette in its bottom right.  Here we see the familiar crescent shape that has been so closely identified with South Carolina.  Crescents of this kind not only adorned the striking blue flag designed by Colonel William Moultrie in September 1775, but they were also worn as an emblem on the caps of the newly formed 2^nd South Carolina regiment.  The crossed swords in the center further enhance the militaristic tone of the design and the Latin words – Pro Libertate – declares “For Liberty.”

South Carolina 15s Note – November 1775

South Carolina Fifteen Shilling Note. Image Credit: Eric P. Newman Numismatic Education Society

This Fifteen Shillings note is one of the smaller denominations in the series. The overall design of this less valuable note is significantly simpler than that of the larger denominations.   The vignette in the bottom right includes the Roman numerals that correspond with the value of the note. Of further interest in this example is the unmistakable signature of Francis Salvador. When he was elected to South Carolina’s Provincial Congress in 1774, Salvador became the first person of Jewish descent elected to public office anywhere in the American colonies. Dedicated to the Patriot cause, Salvador was killed on August 1, 1776, in an ambush while he was working to consolidate support for the cause in the backcountry. Salvador thus became the first person of Jewsish descent to die for the Patriot cause in the Revolutionary War. A plaque to Francis Salvador can be found within Washington Park in downtown Charleston. 

Rattlesnakes and Lions: March 6, 1776 Issuance

On March 6, 1776, the Second Provincial Congress authorized the printing of £750,000 in Bills of Credit.  Within this new set of currency designs, the backs of the £50 and £100 notes included the motto Deus Pugnavit Et Dissipantur – “God has fought, and the opposition was dispersed.”

South Carolina £2, 5s Note – March 1776

This £2, 5 Shillings note is distinctive in that it employs two colors of ink and a variety of Hebrew, Greek, and zodiacal symbols – no doubt further modifications designed to thwart various counterfeiters.

South Carolina £15 Note – March 1776

This £15 note features a very decorative border around its entire perimeter. Its vignette in the bottom right includes a fantastic lion-like creature holding a broken sword. Lions were a part of the Royal Coat of Arms and a clear symbol of Great Britain. If you look closely at this design, there is a rattlesnake that has entwined itself around the lion and is biting the lion’s neck. Rattlesnakes were frequently featured in the flags and motifs of the Patriot forces – most nobably at the center of the 1775 Gadsden Flag. The anti-British symbolism of the design is further enhanced by the Latin saying around its edge – Magnis Interdum Parva Nocent – “Sometimes small things harm the great”. 

Of further interest on this note is the signature of Jacob Motte. Jacob was a member of the Provincial Congress and would later fight at the 1776 Battle of Fort Sullivan. Jacob’s wife was Rebecca Motte, who later became famous in her own right during the Revolutionary War. After the British occupied her Charleston home in 1780, Rebecca moved to her family’s Mt. Joseph plantation on the Congaree River. In 1781, British soldiers who had occupied her Mt. Joseph home were besieged by Patriot forces under the command of Francis Marion and Henry Lee. Rebecca agreed with the Patriot plan to burn the house, and she even provided the arrows that would be used to set the structure on fire. Facing both fire and Patriot muskets, the British surrendered the home, and Rebecca hastened to put out the fire and save what she could.

South Carolina £50 Note – March 1776

This new £50 note, issued on March 6, 1776, features a different left border design that seeks to incorporate a highly stylized cursive “Fifty Pounds.”  In the bottom right is a vignette with an intriguing design. At its center is a castle-like structure with flags and other military arms behind it – clearly a symbol exuding military strength. The Latin saying around its border is Animis Opibusque Parati – which translates to “Prepared in Mind and Resources.” In early 1776, the Patriot forces in South Carolina were preparing for a British military incursion that they felt was imminent.   Animis Opibusque Parati, which is a reference to a passage in Virgil’s Aeneid, would soon become one of two official mottos of the State of South Carolina. Modern South Carolinians are more familiar with the other motto – Dum Spiro Spero (“While I Breath, I Hope”), which adorns many of the state’s license plates today. Both official mottos were engraved on the original great seal of South Carolina in 1777.

South Carolina £100 Note – March 1776

This £100 note features a beautiful circular vignette in its bottom right corner. Here, we see one heart, ablaze, surrounded by twelve other linked hearts – each of the thirteen hearts representing the 13 united colonies that would soon declare independence together on July 4, 1776.   The Latin inscription, Quis Separabit translates to “Who will divide us?” and is a reference to Romans 8:35 in the New Testament. “Quis Separabit” would also be added to the Great Seal of the State of South Carolina and can be found on a ribbon connected to the palmetto tree within the seal’s design. The Order of Saint Patrick and some British and Irish regiments also utilize this well-known saying. However, here, with one heart at the center and the other twelve hearts connected by a circular vine, the symbolism is clearly linked to the thirteen American colonies fighting together for their collective independence. 

From Pounds to Dollars: October 19, 1776 Issuance

By October of 1776, South Carolina’s Patriot forces had already triumphed over the Royal Navy and the British army at the June 28, 1776, Battle of Sullivan’s Island and had learned of the Declaration of Independence declared in Philadelphia in July of 1776. To further distinguish its currency from Great Britain’s, the notes in the October 1776 issuance were denominated in dollars rather than pounds – the first South Carolina paper notes to do so. To facilitate this currency transition, the October 1776 notes also include the more traditional pounds, shillings, and pence figures within the written description on the note. Not only did that help the owners to understand the value of these dollar-denominated notes, but it was also a means of fixing the note’s value in these uncertain times.

Also of great significance on these notes are the references to the “State.” By this time, South Carolina was now its own independent nation – its own state.

South Carolina $4 Note – October 1776

South Carolina Four Dollar Note. Image Credit: Eric P. Newman Numismatic Education Society

This $4 South Carolina note has an intricately engraved floral and geometric border with the Roman numbers in each corner.  This note’s circular vignette is unabashedly aggressive with a large bull elephant facing the viewer and the Latin inscription, Infestus Tantum Infestis, declaring it to be “Hostile only to the Hostile.”

In this example, four dollars was equivalent to six pounds and ten shillings.

South Carolina $10 Note – October 1776

This $10 note includes a decorative floral border and a circular vignette which includes military flags and a drum at the base of a growing tree at the center.   Around the design includes the Latin motto Tuta Pedamine Virtus, which roughly translates as “Virtue is secure with a firm footing.”

South Carolina $6 Note (Reverse) – October 1776

On the back of the $6 note one can more easily see and read who is the distributor of these paper notes – The State of South Carolina…a free, and independent nation. 

Conclusion

South Carolina’s Provincial Congress not only needed to dramatically increase the supply of money for its defensive needs at the outset of the American Revolution, but the Congress also used the paper currency it printed to deliver patriotic messages designed to bolster the morale of the local population.  And with the October 1776 issuances, South Carolina’s paper currency, now denominated in dollars, not pounds, became a symbol of South Carolina’s independence from the mother country.

Interesting Facts about South Carolina’s Revolutionary War Currency

• Even though both used the Pound as its measure of currency, a South Carolina pound did not equate to a pound sterling in British currency.
• Intricate copper plates were used to print these paper bills. Those plates were designed by James Oliphant; a jeweler and engraver located on Broad Street in Charleston.  Many of the bills were then printed by Peter Timothy, who owned and operated a print shop at the corner of Broad and Church Streets in Charleston.
• Most of these notes were printed on thin, weak paper. Some of the notes are also watermarked.
  
  

Thanks to the Eric P. Newman Numismatic Education Society

SC250 Charleston wishes to thank Mr. Leonard Augsburger at the Eric P. Newman Numismatic Education Society for all the support provided to this article.  The currency images in this article all originated from their extensive collection of historic currency. Learn more about their history, mission, and collections here: https://epnnes.org/

References

• Eric P. Newman Numismatic Education Society, Early Paper Money of America/South Carolina. https://epnnes.org/
• Interview with John Kraljevich, Professional numismatist & antiquarian
• The Early Paper Money of America, Fifth Edition by Eric P. Newman, https://archive.org/details/earlypapermoneyo2008eric/earlypapermoneyo2008eric
• Cash and Credit in South Carolina before the U.S. Dollar, by Nic Butler, Ph.D., Charleston County Public Library https://www.ccpl.org/charleston-time-machine/cash-and-credit-south-carolina-us-dollar
• June, 1737: A Revolutionary Heroine is Born, South Carolina Historical Society. https://schistory.org/june-1737-a-revolutionary-heroine-is-born/
• Francis Salvador, SC250. https://southcarolina250.com/story/francis-salvador/
• State Mottoes, South Carolina Encyclopedia. https://www.scencyclopedia.org/sce/entries/state-mottoes/

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Rob Shenk is a board member of SC250 Charleston, a local non-profit established to support commemorative events and educational programs in the Charleston area, and is the Chief Content Officer for Wide Awake Films, a leading producer of history-centered films and museum interactives.  Rob previously held senior executive positions at George Washington’s Mount Vernon and the American Battlefield Trust.