Two-shilling note, issued March 5, 1776, typeset, New York: Samuel Loudon.
Just months before the Declaration of Independence, the colony of New York authorized an issue of £30,000 in paper money in all denominations to fund anticipated wartime expenses and help support the local economy. The notes were printed by Samuel Loudon (1727-1813) an Irish or Scottish immigrant who ran a bookshop and printing office in New York City. Loudon founded and published The New-York Packet and The American Advertiser, a newspaper he suspended in August 1776 when he fled the city ahead of British occupation to prevent confiscation of his equipment. Relocating to Fishkill, about seventy-five miles north of the city, Loudon resumed printing the newspaper and produced materials like recruitment guides and instructions to officers for the Continental Army.