Important British and World Paper Money

Liberia, Republic of Liberia, Five Dollars, 28 December 1863, no. 2035, Monrovia, ‘pay to Bearer in Gold or Silver Coin’, signed by Stephen A. Benson and Benjamin Anderson (Pick 9). Both corner tips cut away on left side, a few spots, otherwise very fine, rare £400-600

Provenance: E. Barnby Collection, Part I, DNW Auction B13, 13 April 2010, lot 805.

Stephen Allen Benson (1816-65), from Cambridge, Maryland, emigrated to Liberia in 1822 and became a judge and methodist preacher before he succeeded Joseph Jenkins Roberts as the second president of Liberia, 1856-64. Benjamin Anderson (1835-1910), Liberia’s great explorer, migrated from Baltimore at the age of 16 and served three spells as the country’s treasurer