Inspection Note Público Deposited
A peculiar currency of paper, founded upon tobacco valua- tions. It was introduced in the Province of Maryland in 1763, and still existed to a limited extent at the beginning of the nineteenth century. The system was akin to and based upon that which had existed for some years previously in Virginia, where it bore the name, yet more expres- sive, of Tobacco Notes. The staple was placed by the producer or owner in the public warehouses for his county, was duly inspected and branded by the proper offi- cer, who gave for it a receipt, specifying the quality and quantity of the deposit; this receipt, or, as it was called, Inspection Note, was a legal tender for all purposes in the county wherein it was issued, and the holders possessed the right of obtaining at any time from the storehouses the amount of tobacco which the face of the note called for. This currency superseded that of the staple, which was then declared no longer to be a legal tender.
- Frey's Dictionary (American Journal of Numismatics, Vol. 50, 1916)