New Jersey £3 "Raid Note," February 20, 1776

DateFebruary 20, 1776

Printer Isaac Collins and Son

MediumPaper & ink

DimensionsOL: 4"; OH: 2 1/4"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase, The Lasser Family

Object number2010-113

Label TextBefore this note received the third signature required to be "legal tender," it was confiscated during a raid by British forces on December 9, 1776. The raiding party, under command of Lt. Hawkshaw of the British 5th Regiment of foot, found a trunk filled with these partially signed notes in the attic of John Abbott's house, where they had been stashed by Samuel Tucker, president of the New Jersey Provincial Congress and the final signatory.

All of the captured notes had been signed by Samuel How and John Hart, who is famous for being a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

Apparently the British released these non-monetized notes into circulation, no doubt as a form of economic warfare. A warning against the acceptance of these incompletely-signed notes appeared in the Pennsylvania Journal on February 26, 1776.