Whereas the Publick Bills of Credit of the province by long Experience have been found to be very usefull in Trade and Commerce and of very great Advantage to the Government in the Defraying the Contingent Charges thereof and the Summ now Current not being Sufficient for Supporting Trade amongst us and those bills now Current being very much worn and Defaced, that there is a necessity for making the Summ aforesayd for facilitating Trade and Exchanging the old Bills

Be it Enacted by his Excellency the Palatine and the rest of the true and absolute Lords Proprietors of Carolina, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Rest of the Members of the General Assembly now meet at Edenton for the North East part of the Sayd province, and by the Authority of the Same It is Enacted That Edward Mosely Esqr. John Lovick Esqr. Mr. Thomas Swann Mr. Cullen Pollock and Mr. William Downing are hereby appointed and Impowered to make out Publick Bills of Credit of this Province to the Summ of Fourty thousand pounds in manner following Two thousand Twelve peney Bills Two thousand two shilling bills Two thousand two shilling and Six penny bills, Two thousand five shilling bills, Two thousand Seven shilling and Six penny bills, Two thousand Tenn shilling Bills, Four thousand Twenty shilling Bills Three thousand Forty shilling Bills, Four thousand Three pound Bills, One thousand Eight hundred and fourty, Five pound Bills and Six hundred Tenn Pound Bills, which Bills when made shall be Signed by the said Edward Moseley Esqr. John Lovick Esqr. Mr. Thomas Swann, Mr. Cullen Pollock and Mr. William Downing who are hereby Authorized thereto, And to Seal the Same with the Seal of the Province and then to Deliver into the hands of Edward Moseley Esqr. Publick Treasurer One Fourth part of the Same in Order to Exchange the old Bills not Currant, for which he shall be allowed fiftean shillings for every hundred pounds Exchanged, And the Other three fourth parts to be Delivered into the hands of the Several precinct Treasurers hereafter appointed in this Act, proportionable to the Number of Tythables Residing in Each precinct to be ascertained by true Lists Returned upon Oath by the Constables of the Several precincts which List the Justices of the precinct are Directed to Cause to be taken and Returned to the Treasurer of the precinct, on or before the Tenth Day of March next Ensuing.

And it is Enacted by the authority aforesayd That Edward Moseley Esqr. is appointed Treasurer for Chowan precinct Mr. Charles Denman for Perquimans precinct Collonel Thomas Swann for pasquotank precinct Mr. John Etheridge for Corrituck precinct Mr. Thomas pollock for Bertie Precinct, Mr. Cullen pollock for Tyrrell precinct, Mr. Simon Alderson for Beuford precinct, Mr. Thomas Smith for Hide precinct, Mr. Martine Frank for Craven precinct, Mr. Richard Rustell for Carteret precinct, Mr. John Baptista Ashe for New Hannover precinct, and for the Commissioners trouble and Charge therein, they are hereby allowed three pence per Bill to be paid out of the first Interest money that shall be paid unto the Said Treasurers, in Case there is no other money in the treasury which Treasurers are hereby Required to pay the same.

And it is Enacted by the Authority aforesaid That each and every of the aforesayd Treasurers shall after the 20th Day of March next Emitt of the aforesaid Bills to any person Deserving the Same for fifteen years, Such person first giving Security by a mortgage of Some Lands in the said precinct to which he hath a good Title, and of Double the value of those Bills, he shall receive of the said Treasurer, and that he shall pay to the Sayd Treasurer the yearly Interest of Six pounds Five per cent for fifteen years, for what Summ any person shall take up, which said Interest together with One fifteenth part of the principal taken out shall be paid Annually, in manner following that is to say any person taking out One hundred pounds shall pay the

And so Pro rata

Provided That no person take more than Two hundred pounds nor Less than Twenty five pounds.

And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesayd that where any person shall make Default in the Yearly payments That Each and every of the precinct Treasurers are hereby Impowered Directed and required to make Distress by Granting an Attachment to any person that he shall Appoint, who is hereby Authorized and required to Execute the Same on any personal Estate to be found belonging to Such person or persons so Defficient. And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid that all Goods so Distrained on shall be set up at publick Vendue at the house of the precinct Treasurer, Such Treasurer Setting up an Inventory of the said Goods at the precinct Court house at Least Ten Days before Such sale.

And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid That Every person having any Lands Mortgaged to him in this provance shall under his hand give Notice thereof unto the Treasurer of the precinct where the Land Lyeth, on or before the twenty fifth day of March next, and that One Default thereof such mortgage as aforesaid to any of the Sayd Treasurers, altho of Latter Date shall and is bere by Declared and Confirmed to be good and Valid, as tho no former morgage had been made.

And be it further Enacted by the authority aforesayd That the Treasurer of Every precinct, or any of them that shall have Such Lands offered as Security for any Summ of money the value of which Lands the Said Treasurer or Treasurers are not and or think themselves not Judges of they shall not be obliged to Accept of Such Security without the person offering such Security shall produce two Such Indifferent Freeholders, as the said Treasurer or Treasurers shall Seem proper Judges of the value of said Lands, and that they value the same on oath According to the Commoditys in this Act is Rated.

And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid That all and Every person or persons having any Publick Bills of Credit are hereby Required to bring the Same to the Publick Treasurer on or before the twenty ninth day of September next after the Ratification of this Act to have them Exchanged, and that no Publick Bills of Credit already Issued shall be Current in any payments in this Government after the said 29th day of September next Ensuing.

And Whereas this Emission of Bills may Injure some Debitors or Creditors, by their Rising and falling from the value of those now Current amongst us, For prevention of which, Be it Enacted that the value of Our Bills are hereby adjudged Every Twenty shillings to be of Equal value to fifteen penny weight of Silver as Current in Virginia, so that all Debts already Contracted shall have in their Discharge Such allowance (if any be) to the Debtor or Creditor as our Bills shall Rise or fall in value, and that the value of Our Bills hereby Ascertained Do Continue till the next Assembly, which Assembly it is hereby meant and understood is to Ascertain the Difference that then shall be to the Succeeding Assemblys whereby Every Debt already Contracted may be paid in Bills in equall to what our Bills now are.

And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid that the following form of Mortgage in this Act Expressed is hereby Confirmed to be in every Respect as firm and binding on all and Every person or persons giving the Same in Security to any of Our precinct Treasurers that now are or hereafter shall be, for their Just payment for any Sum that such person or persons shall take of the Said Treasurer as tho the said Mortgage were drawn after the most Exact form and that on Default of any person or persons yearly payment according to the Table set forth in this Act, that in Such Case it shall and may be Lawfull by Verture of the said mortgage for any precinct Treasurer that now is, or hereafter shall be to Enter on any Lands mortgaged therefore, and after giving thirty days Notice by affixing a note on the precinct Court house Door to Expose the said Lands to Sale at publick Vendue, the said Vendue to be at the said precinct Court house and whatever the said Lands shall Sell for more, then what is Due to the Treasurer, with the Charge of the sale of Such Land, and three per Cent for the Treasurer his Letting the Same Again that the Overplus shall be paid unto the person Mortgaging the said Lands Provided And it is hereby to be understood that no persons Land shall be Exposed to Sale where personal Estate can be found in the precinct sufficient to Discharge the Debt and Charges nor for Less than three years Deficiency.

Form of the Mortgage

Know all Men by these presents That I ________ of the precint and province etc. For and in Consideration of the Sum of ________ pounds in hand paid by the Treasurer of the Said precinct Do hereby for the Security of the Severall yearly payments therefore according to a table Set forth in an Act Intituled an Act for the making and Emitting the Sum of Forty thousand pounds in publick Bills of Credit, of North Carolina, Mortgage a Tract of Land of which I am now True and Sole Owner Containing by Estimation ________ Acres Lying and being _______ unto ________ who is the Said Treasurer or his Successors for the use of the province In Witness etc.

Whereas It is thought necessary to have such a Sum in the publick Treasury as may answer the Contingent Charges of the Government, And as the Bills to be Emitted on Interest may not so Soon be taken Out, as by their Interest to Answer the Same.

Be it Enacted by the Authority aforesayd That an Annual Pole Tax of three shillings per Tythable throughout this Government be Continued from and after the Ratification of this Act to be payable at the times as by the former Act of five shillings per Tythable is Directed untill the meeting of the next Biennial Assembly, That if it shall appear upon the Exhibiting of the Accounts of the several Treasurers who are hereby Directed upon the meeting of Every Biennial Assembly so to do, That the Assembly may thereby be enabled to Judge by the Bills Emitted whether any further Tax shall be necessary or not. And Whereas the pole Tax have heretofore been very much Impared by bad Collections Occasioned by the provost Marshals and his Deputys Neglect (if not Fraudelent Design) And no way for Want of proper Securitys to Come to them

Be it Enacted by the Authority aforesayd That the Severall Treasurers, in each and Every precinct, are hereby Authorised and Impowered by themselves and Deputys not only to Collect what is Due for this present year 1729 but also the Pole Tax of three shillings as in this Act is appointed for which their trouble they shall be allowed Twelve per Cent and no more. And Whereas Thirty thousand pounds of the Bills appointed to be made by this Act to be given out on Such Intrest which with the principal will amount unto forty five thousand pounds in fifteen years which is fifteen thousand pounds more than there will be of the said Bills for the persons taking up the Same to make their payments with. Therefore it is Judged Expedient that the said fifteen thousand pounds should be applyed to Some Publick uses, that so by their Emission the Takers up may the Easier procure bills to make the Latter payments but as the bills now passing Require Imediate Change, and that Ten thousand pounds is Ordered to be made for that use, so that no Occasion will be to Emitt again the whole fifteen thousand pounds of the Bills to Come in by yearly payments But that they may be Such and Destroyed as they Come into the Treasury only five thousand pounds must Issue out of the Treasury of Interest money for bringing in whereof

Be it Enacted by the authority aforesayd that the money Coming in first to the Treasurers hands so farr as One Eight part of what was Delivered them (which is five thousand pounds in the whole) from the Commissioners be applyed to Some publick uses, particularly as already Ordered for Payment of making the Bills, and the Remainder of the Said five thousand Pounds is hereby Directed to Defray the Treasurers Charges in Emitting Exchanging and Receiving the whole Bills, and for the Contingent Charges of the Government.

And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesayd That if it shall so happen that any One or more of the Comissioners in this Act Appointed for making and Signing the Bills aforesaid shall Dye or Remove from this Government before the Twenty fifth day of March Aforesaid It then shall and may be Lawfull for the Governor or Commander in Chief for the time being to Nominate and appoint a person or persons in the place of Such Commissioner or Comissioners so Dead or Removed.

Be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesayd That the Treasurer for New Hanover shall not take any Lands in Mortgage unless Such as have pattents Issued for the Same.

And it is Enacted by the Authority aforesayd That all and Every person or persons having any publick Bills of Credit, are hereby Required to bring the Same to the publick Treasurer on or before the 29th Day of September next after the Ratification of this Act, to have them Exchanged, and that no publick bills of Credit already Issued shall be Current on any payments in the Government after the said 29th day of September next Ensuing.

And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesayd that the Said Edward Moseley Publick Treasurer shall produce to the new Assembly which shall meet after the said 29th day of september next all Such Old Bills as he Shall have Exchanged that the Same may be Compared with the Counter parts and then Destroyed.

And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid that the Publick Bills of Credit of this Government by this Act to be Issued shall be Deemed Reckned and taken to be a good payment and Tender in Law for any Commodity of this Government as in this Act Rated, as any other money or payment whatsoever in as full and a Manner to all Intents and purposes as any bills of Credit of this Government have heretofore been held reputed and taken, And the Several Comoditys shall be taken in Lieu of the Bills at the following Rates Videlicet

The which Commodities the Treasurer of Every Respective precinct are hereby Authorized and Required to Receive at the Rates Aforesaid, Provided the Same be paid at their Respective houses in Merchantable Order, And it is hereby to be understood That no Officer whose fees are already Assertained shall be obliged to take those Commodities any otherways than they are in the former Acts Directed, And if any person or persons shall refuse to take and Receive the sayd bills in Lieu of any payment or Debt due in any of the Rated Commodities of the Government or other money whatsoever unless the Same be Expressly mentioned to be a sterling Debt, wherein Allowance shall be made of fifteen per Cent on the Silver and Gold Rates, he or they so refusing shall forfeit the value of such publick bills of Creditt so refused, One half to the use of the Publick the other half to him or them that shall sue for the same, to be recovered by Bill Plaint or Information in any Court of Record in this Government wherein no Essoign Protection Injunction or Wager of Law shall be allowed or Admitted of.

And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesayd that if any person or persons shall Counterfeat or alter any of the publick bills of Creditt, or shall Aid or Assist any person in Counterfeating or altering the Same or shall utter or Dispose of any such Counterfiet Bills of Creditt, knowing the Same to be Counterfiet, Such person or persons so offending, shall for the first offence be Whipped at the Discretion of the Court, not Exceeding Forty Lashes, and stand in the pillory two hours, and have One Ear Nailed and Cutt off, And for the Second offence whipp'd as aforesaid, and have the other Ear nailed to the pillory and Cutt off, and branded in the hand with a hott Iron, and for the third offence Felony etc.

And be it further Enacted by the authority aforesayd That Each and Every respective Treasurer herein mentioned give bond with sufficient Security in the Sum Double the money Reposed in their hands to the Governor President or Commander in Chief for the time being for the use of the publick for his faithfull Discharge of his said office, and Disposing of the publick money as Directed by the Act, or any Act or Ordinance of Assembly which bonds shall be Lodged in the Secretarys office.

And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesayd That Every Treasurer so giving bond to the Governor or Commander in Chief shall then and there make Oath, that he will not at any time any of the aforesaid Bills any Otherwise than by the Direction of the Act unless Directed by Some future act, or ordinance of assembly.

And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid That in Case any Treasurer shall Live at too great a Distance that then Such Oath as is appointed by this Act, may be made before some Magestrate and a Certificate thereof be given to be Lodged with the Governor, And also the Bonds for their performance be taken by Some person Appointed by the Governor, and Remitted for Recording in the Secretarys Office as is appointed in this Act.

And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesayd that after the Bills now Out are Sunk, for which the publick faith is given That then the Lords proprietors Rents perquisites and Royallties are to be paid (if Required) in the Commoditys of this Government as Rated in the year 1715.

And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesayd That in all sterling Debts Demands and Contracts that hath been made before the Ratification of this Act they shall not have force by the Advance on Silver mentioned in this Act, but according to the Law usage and Custom in use before the Ratification of this Act.

And be it further Enacted by the authority aforesayd That the Several Treasurers herein appointed, and Such as may be hereafter Appointed, Shall Constantly keep a fair Just account of the time Emitting moneys of the Quantity, the persons to whome Delivered and the Lands Mortgaged as also of the Interest and principal paid in, for their ready Accounting with the Assembly when Called upon.

And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid that when any person or persons shall Desire to pay in any money taken on the aforesaid Loan, that Such person is hereby permitted at the End of any year to pay the Treasurer that part of the principal Remaining in his hands with that Years payment with three per Cent.

And Be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid That the publick Levy of five shillings per pole (in the act for making Twelve Thousand pounds) upon the Ratification of this Act, is Declared to be Null and Void to all Intents and purposes Provided And it is hereby understood That this Clause Do no Interferr with this years payment other Payments that now are Due.

NYHS, pp. 317-[324]; CO 5/293, fs. 137-142. For an act “better explaining” this one, see the 1735 “Act for Stamping and Exchanging the present Bills of Currency . . .”, included below.