"GEM UNCIRCULATED" DELWARE 9 PENCE NOTE WITH EXCEPTIONAL PAPER QUALITY

DE-84. 1 May 1777 9 Delaware 9 Pence note. Printed [Wilmington, Delaware]: James Adams, 1777. Serial no. 50743. Adams's imprint to verso. On thick paper with blue fiber and mica flakes. Signed by Richard Lockwood. Approx. 2 5/8 x 3 3/8 in. 

A Revolutionary War-era note of exceptional quality, printed by Delaware's first printer, James Adams (ca 1725-1792). 

Adams began his career in Philadelphia, working for Benjamin Franklin and David Hall before relocating to Wilmington in 1761, where he became Delaware's only printer for nearly 25 years. He became the colony's official printer and was ultimately responsible for nearly 80% of printed material in Delaware until his death. 

This note features borders and Delaware's new State Arms cut by Adams with superb detail and clarity. The verso uses a reused sheaf of wheat device. The notes were printed on thick paper containing blue fibers and flakes of mica, an anti-counterfeiting measure. 

References:
Bruce Hagen & Stuart Levine. Continental and Colonial Currency. 

Dorothy Lawson Hawkins. "James Adams the First Printer of Delaware." The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America. Vol. 28 (1934), pp. 28-63.

Eric P. Newman. The Early Paper Money of America. 

[Currency, Tokens, Medals,  Numismia, Numismatics, Exonumia, Bonds, Coins, Banknotes] [American Revolutionary War, American Revolution, Founding Fathers, Declaration of Independence, Colonial America, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, James Monroe] 

Slabbed and graded by Paper Money Guaranty (PMG) as "65 Gem Uncirculated" with "Exceptional Paper Quality."