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Auction: 17020 - Autographs, Historical Documents, Ephemera and Postal History
Lot: 838

Autographs
Exchequer Bill
1697 (5 June) £5 Exchequer Bill form the second issue offering ¼d. a day interest, signed "R.Howard" and endorsed on the reverse, "4th of December 97 pd for taxes of Baddow magna 5:03:09½, Land of Richd Moore". With impressed portcullis seal; two vertical folds, otherwise fresh and fine. Photo

These were first issued by the government in 1696 to provide currency, as coin was scarce, and to raise loans for the Land Bank. The 1696 Bills were not a success as they tended not to hold their value. This second issue was more acceptable in paying taxes, which had the effect of guaranteeing their value, explaining the emphasis to tax payments in the wording. Frequent issues were made up to the end of the nineteenth century although, in practice, they became security documents for short term loans to the government rather than currency

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Sold for
£850