Unbound
1830 · Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1830. Unbound. Very good. This ticket from the 1830 Union Canal of Pennsylvania Lotterymeasures approximately 6.25” x 2”. It is printed in light grey-blue and black with an image of the canal and several locks in the top margin. In good shape with some minor edgewear and staining.
The front of the ticket reads,
“This Ticket will entitle the holder to one Quarter of such Prize as may be drawn to its numbers, if demanded within twelve months after the drawing. Subject to deduction of fifteen percent. Payable forty days after the drawing. For the Managers, Yates and McIntyre. Philadelphia, 1830.”
The reverse is docketed,
““Jonathan Holben / & Eliah Hocher / 9.31.8.60.29:66:55.33.45.3” . The Union Canal was a towpath canal , first proposed by William Penn in 1690 to connect Philadelphia with the Susquehanna River. It ran from Middletown on the Susquehanna River below Harrisburg to Reading on the Schuylkill River, providing an important early transportation route for shipping anthracite and lumber eastward to Philadelphia.
Regular tax revenues to the State proved insufficient, so the state authorized the canal’s corporation to issue $400,000 of lottery tickets in 1795 as a money raising effort for this “important public purpose.” None the less, after 16 years, the lottery only raised $60,000 the required funds, as the public remained leery of its legitimacy. Over the course of the next 22 years the legislature approved numerous extensions until the money needed was finally fully raised in 1833. Overall results were disappointing, as the lottery only provided an actual return of 5% against an expected return of 15%.
Still, the Union Canal Lottery was the most important lottery in early America and is still today one of the best-known lotteries in the history of the United States.
The canal opened upon its completion in 1828 and remained in operation until the 1880s. Today, only ruins of the canal remain including the well-preserved Union Canal Tunnel.
(For more information, see “Union Canal, Pennsylvania)” at Wikipedia.
Rather scarce. At the time of listing, no other Union Canal Lottery tickets are for sale in the trade. The Rare Book Hub shows none have appeared at auction, although they occasionally appear for sale on . . (Inventory #: 010416)
The front of the ticket reads,
“This Ticket will entitle the holder to one Quarter of such Prize as may be drawn to its numbers, if demanded within twelve months after the drawing. Subject to deduction of fifteen percent. Payable forty days after the drawing. For the Managers, Yates and McIntyre. Philadelphia, 1830.”
The reverse is docketed,
““Jonathan Holben / & Eliah Hocher / 9.31.8.60.29:66:55.33.45.3” . The Union Canal was a towpath canal , first proposed by William Penn in 1690 to connect Philadelphia with the Susquehanna River. It ran from Middletown on the Susquehanna River below Harrisburg to Reading on the Schuylkill River, providing an important early transportation route for shipping anthracite and lumber eastward to Philadelphia.
Regular tax revenues to the State proved insufficient, so the state authorized the canal’s corporation to issue $400,000 of lottery tickets in 1795 as a money raising effort for this “important public purpose.” None the less, after 16 years, the lottery only raised $60,000 the required funds, as the public remained leery of its legitimacy. Over the course of the next 22 years the legislature approved numerous extensions until the money needed was finally fully raised in 1833. Overall results were disappointing, as the lottery only provided an actual return of 5% against an expected return of 15%.
Still, the Union Canal Lottery was the most important lottery in early America and is still today one of the best-known lotteries in the history of the United States.
The canal opened upon its completion in 1828 and remained in operation until the 1880s. Today, only ruins of the canal remain including the well-preserved Union Canal Tunnel.
(For more information, see “Union Canal, Pennsylvania)” at Wikipedia.
Rather scarce. At the time of listing, no other Union Canal Lottery tickets are for sale in the trade. The Rare Book Hub shows none have appeared at auction, although they occasionally appear for sale on . . (Inventory #: 010416)
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