Lot 1017
The Continental Journal and Weekly Advertiser, Boston, June 21, 1781. Complete original 4-page newspaper, 15½" x 10", with a complete, front-page printing of the original charter of the Bank of North America, the very first bank in the United States. The headline reads: "TO THE PUBLIC, On the 17th day of May, 1781, the following PLAN was submitted to the consideration of the United States, in Congress assembled. PLAN for establishing a NATIONAL BANK, for the United States of North America."
Following the headlines are 18 numbered sections laying out in detail the purposes, rules, and functions of the bank. The first article reads: "That a Subscription be opened for Four Hundred Thousand Dollars, in Shares of four hundred dollars each, to be paid in gold or silver." The complete bank charter takes up two columns on the front page and is signed in print by Charles Thomson, Secretary of the Continental Congress. Beginning at the bottom of column 2 on the front page, and carrying over to the back page, is a two-column letter signed in print by Robert Morris, explaining each of the articles of the charter of the Bank of North America in detail. The name "George Thatcher" in old ink is at upper left. This is the best display newspaper we have ever seen on the establishment of the first bank in the United States. Museum quality.
In 1781 the U.S. was in a crisis. The British controlled the coastline from the sea, two major cities, and the western frontier. The treasury was in debt by $25 million and public credit had collapsed. Congress created the first executive offices in American history and Robert Morris was given two of them, Finance and Marine. On April 30, 1781, Alexander Hamilton, only 23 years old and still serving in the military, sent a letter to Morris and laid out a proposal for a National Bank. Morris immediately drafted a legislative proposal based on Hamilton's suggestion and submitted it to the Congress. The first modern United States bank, the Bank of North America, was chartered on December 31, 1781 by the Congress of the Confederation and opened on January 7, 1782. The initial role of the bank was to finance the war against Britain. Morris deposited large quantities of gold and silver coin and bills of exchange obtained through loans from the Netherlands and France. He then issued new paper currency backed by this supply. He also managed to meet the interest rates on the debt, which he estimated to be about thirty million dollars. The Bank of North America, along with the First Bank of the United States and the Bank of New York, obtained the first shares in the New York Stock Exchange.
Estimated Value $3,000 - 4,000.
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| Realized $2,530 |
