The Counting House
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The Counting House No. 20 — Case 1, Box 6: Goldsborough to Hopkinson
That is not a title. It is a box label at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and Francis Hopkinson — the man I have spent a year reading — is the…
13 hrs ago
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Paul G. Molé
1
1
The Counting House No. 19 — Two Bills, Two States, One Treasurer
I own two Continental Loan Office bills of exchange, drawn a year and four days apart. Same form, same signature, same account in Paris — and two…
Sep 16
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Paul G. Molé
3
2
1
The Counting House No. 18 — How to Ask for a Book That Isn't in the Catalogue
I went to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania with a thirteen-item pull list and one paragraph of plain description. The paragraph found the only…
Sep 9
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Paul G. Molé
1
The Counting House No. 17 — The Clerk Had It Right
I spent a year looking for a man under a name he never had — and the bill had been spelling it correctly on its own face the whole time.
Sep 2
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Paul G. Molé
1
August 2026
The Counting House No. 16 — First on the List
Francis Hopkinson billed Congress for designing the flag. He asked to be paid in wine. They said no.
Aug 25
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Paul G. Molé
1
The Counting House No. 15 — Twenty Years in an Unmarked Envelope
A quarter of the company that ruined Robert Morris — signed on the back, and made out to nobody.
Aug 19
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Paul G. Molé
4
1
The Counting House No. 14 — Filed Under Franklin
I went looking for Adrian Renaudel in William Bingham's papers. The finding aid was no help. A curator pointed me at a card catalog. The card catalog…
Aug 5
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Paul G. Molé
1
1
July 2026
Where to Look
Where the research in these essays comes from, and how to get at it yourself.
Jul 30
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Paul G. Molé
3
1
The Counting House No. 13 — Turning It Over
An update to last week's essay. I photographed the back of the 1778 bill of exchange, and Adrian Renaudel is not as obscure as I thought.
Jul 24
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Paul G. Molé
1
1
The Counting House No. 12 — Not Worth a Continental
How the British counterfeited a currency out of existence, and why it took Benjamin Franklin to see the full picture.
Jul 23
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Paul G. Molé
1
The Counting House No. 11 — In Search of Adrian Renaudel
A 1778 bill of exchange, a French lender, and the machinery that financed a revolution.
Jul 14
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Paul G. Molé
2
4
June 2026
The Counting House No. 10 — The Check Goes Home
On donating Aaron Burr’s 1796 bank order to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania — and what a year of research changed
Jun 26
1
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