Our Collection

At the Institute’s core is the Gilder Lehrman Collection, one of the great archives in American history. More than 85,000 items cover five hundred years of American history, from Columbus’s 1493 letter describing the New World through the end of the twentieth century.

Warland, William to Joseph B. Varnum

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC03845.10 Author/Creator: Warland, William Place Written: Watertown, Massachusetts Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 13 August 1811 Pagination: 1 p. Order a Copy

Inquires "what kinds of coins are a legal tender" for paying a debt to a neighbor, "an old tory," who refuses payment in Spanish dollars. At the time of this letter, Varnum was a United States Senator from Massachusetts.

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