THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 19, 1995 TAG: 9502190050
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG LENGTH: Medium: 56 lines
The owner of one of the three largest collections of 18th-century money in the country has told Colonial Williamsburg to spread it around.
Joseph R. Lasser of New York gave the tourist attraction a collection of currency notes in December that has been valued at $720,000, and he has promised to give the foundation his Colonial coin collection upon his death, Colonial Williamsburg development director Barry Dress said Friday.
``He stressed that he wanted us to use it interpretively, to let people get up close to it and not lock it up behind glass forever,'' Dress said. ``And we have. We showed the collection last week to a tour of 45 people from an elderly hostel.''
Lasser's collection of 970 bills includes some designed by Paul Revere and Benjamin Franklin. Franklin created a floral print widely used in the colonies to prevent counterfeiting, said associate curator Gail Greve.
``It would differ from one issue of the money to another issue as an easy way to discourage fraud,'' Greve said. ``Some of the designs on this money are so intricate that you can't tell where they begin and where they end. It's phenomenal.''
Colonial Williamsburg had about 80 pieces of 18th-century currency in its collection before Lasser donated his bills printed between 1708 and 1789, she said.
``This is a much, much greater collection for us in terms of size and time span,'' Greve said. ``It has all kinds of denominations, from pence to pounds.''
There was a lot out there just before and after the American Revolution, when states were issuing their own money. Lasser has written several articles for collector journals about how the paper bills were often used as personal IOUs or as government bonds to pay for military campaigns, jails or lighthouses.
As such, each bill was signed by hand by a state's prominent businessmen, landowners or government officials.
Greve said Lasser's Virginia money includes bills signed by Edmund Randolph, the patriot nephew of Peyton Randolph; and by Robert Carter Nicholas, the treasurer of Virginia who lived in a house just southwest of the Governor's Palace from 1753 to 1761.
Colonial Williamsburg printers have examined the money in hopes of reprinting it so costumed actors can use it in historic area programs, Greve said.
The collection also helps Colonial Williamsburg understand how the money was used in daily life, she said. While some of the money is in mint, or undamaged, condition, many bills are patched together.
``It's a great collection for research,'' she said. by CNB