I always wanted to get into correctional currency at some point, and that point has now arrived. I started with the 10 cents: And my most recent addition is the 50 cents. Feel free to post and share your own fractional currency.
Fractionals are on my bucket list but just not right now. Looking at the prices in multiple guides, looks like a type set of the 25 different notes should be obtainable with just a bit of patience -- there's no super-expensive stoppers.
Good luck, I completed a set a couple of years ago. You already have one of the best ones (Lincoln). It's a nice example.
They were issued during the Civil War because there was a severe shortage of coins available in circulation for commerce.
Really like those @Sallent ! Congrats! I used to collect them as a kid (did not have the Lincoln, great job!). I have always regretted selling them off 40 years ago. I might start looking around for them to add to my collection…
When the coin shortage started in 1861, a lot of people started using stamps as cash. Or even worse for the government, a lot of people started striking their own tokens. And even worse, the paper currency started to be traded at a discount because people didn't have change, and those that did could say...."I'll trade you 90 cents of coinage for that $1 note" and people were so desperate for coins that it started to happen regularly and the paper currency was at risk of collapse. Some people in desperation started to also mutilate the paper currency, cutting $1 notes into quarters to stand in for the actual quarters they couldn't get (and naturally this destruction of paper currency was also not a desirable outcome for the government). An example of a civil war token that would have been used as cash. So the government passed a postage currency act to use fractional notes that could be redeemed for postage stamp as an alternative to the other methods it wanted to discourage people from using. The first issue looked a lot like oversized stamps. Some even had perforated edges like stamps. It proved so popular that pretty soon they released a second issue that looked more like actual cash and could actually be redeemed in certain quantities for large federal notes. Although technically only the government was required to accept them for payment, in reality they were widely accepted by merchants and regular people who preferred these to random tokens made by God knows who, or stamps, or mutilated $1 bills cut into pieces, etc. There continued to be several issues subsequently released after the Civil War, because there was still a coin shortage and these fractional notes were also popular....and it was not until 1876 that the government finally phased them out as by that time regular coinage had finally caught up and there was no longer a need to continue the expense of making these.
If you don't have one, get yourself a copy of A Collector's Guide to Postage & Fractional Currency by Robert J. Kravitz. Here are a few examples of fractional currency in my collection. Because these were often hand cut from large sheets margins can be an issue. Look for examples with even margins all around the note.
Very nice! I bought my first two fractionals back about 1961 or 1962. I still have them. This is one of them: I have the set of major denominations and designs (no proofs), but many are in much less than perfect condition, and none TPG graded. That Lincoln is very nice!
I just happened to get one of those Spinner 50 cents notes with the red back too. Mine though has hand-applied signatures. Not that I think Spinner and Colby sat down and actually signed these, in reality both employed a staff of female clerks that they personally trained to duplicate their signatures. Though both occasionally were said to sit down and sign some themselves.....so you never know (but probably not) Either way, it's nice to have a hand signed version coming my way given how the majority were printed signatures instead of hand signed.
You guys have better fractional notes than I do. I collected them raw in late 1980s. I completed most of the set, except for the red back Third Issue pieces and the 3 cent Washington with the dark background. I think that the Lincoln note is the most expensive, grade for grade, because, well it's Lincoln. They were part of the Fourth Issue. The counterfeiters got busy and copied them. The government changed the design of the 50 cent, Fourth Issue notes three times as a result. Lincoln Stanton Dexter, who was an early Secretary of the Treasury
