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Benjamin Franklin Document Signed with Etching Signed by Jacques Reich....
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Description
Benjamin Franklin Orders Payment to the Estate of a Pennsylvania Line Soldier as President of Pennsylvania
Benjamin Franklin Document Signed with Etching Signed by Jacques
Reich. One partially printed page, 8 x 6 inches (sight).
Philadelphia; May 11, 1786. Matted and framed to an overall size of
17 x 27 inches.A pay order addressed to treasurer David Rittenhouse, directing him to "Pay to The Estate of John Duffield private late of the 4th Regiment of Pennsylvania Line, or his order, the sum of six pounds nine shillings and six pence...agreeably to an Act of the General Assembly, passed the twenty-fifth day of March 1783, and one other Act, passed the twenty-fifth of March, 1786..." Signed, "B Franklin" adding his paraph. Countersigned in the left margin by John Nicholson, Register General.
Accompanying the document is a finely executed etching of Franklin by Jacques Reich, signed in pencil at the lower margin, "Jacques Reich." Measures 8 x 10 inches (sight).
After spending nine very successful years in France as commissioner for the United States, Ben Franklin returned to America in 1785 and was revered second only to George Washington as a great champion of American independence. Franklin served as the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania president for the next three years. One year after signing this document, Franklin would become a delegate to the Philadelphia Convention, where he held an honorific position and seldom engaged in debate. However, when delegates became heated over the issue of proportional representation, Benjamin Franklin urged coolness. As the eldest delegate at the Convention, Franklin acted on several occasions to restore harmony between delegates, with the ultimate result being the creation of the Constitution of the United States. The Convention was one of the key events in the history of the United States and Franklin remains the only man to become a signatory on four of the major documents concerning the founding of the United States: the Declaration of Independence, the Treaty of Paris, the Treaty of Alliance with France, and the United States Constitution. David Rittenhouse served as treasurer of Pennsylvania and later became the first director of the United States Mint.
Condition: Not examined out of frame. Both documents appear fine, with light toning and a few faint foxing spots; minor ink show-through to the pay order.
Auction Info
2026 June 25 Liberty & Legacy: 250 Years of the American Spirit Americana & Political Signature® Auction #6332 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
June, 2026
25th
Thursday
Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 13
Lot Tracking Activity: N/A
Page Views: 472
Buyer's Premium per Lot:
25% of the successful bid per lot.
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