Who else apart from me has got a banknote from the Confederate States of America? I have got a $20 that was issued in 1864.I know that the Confederate States of America $1 was solely a paper currency,as the Confederate States of America never had coins,barring a few patterns.
Yes, I have Confederate currency. Just to clarify, there were many 1861-O half dollar coins minted under the authority of the CSA government. They don't have the government's name on them, but nontheless... The same goes for 1861-O halves struck under the authority of the Louisianna State government.
I have $25.50 (face value) in Confederate currency. A $20 note (Series 17 February 1864), a $5 note (Series 2 September 1861), and a $.50 note (also from the 17 February 1864 Series). The 1864 notes are redeemable (in coin) two years after a treaty of peace between the CSA and the USA, while the 1861 note is redeemable 6 months after a peace treaty.
You know, I've always wondered about something. Because the Confederacy never surrendered or officially declared itself out of existence (the various states simply "rejoined" the Union), the acts of the Confederate Congress would still carry authority. I do realize that the Confederate writ ceased to be enforced in the late spring of 1865, but no one ever actually "un-did" the acts. Except in South Carolina, and even there it was of highly dubious legality. My question is this: If a spineless politician (or brave one, depending on your own politics) ever decided that the South was right and was able to institute a peace treaty with the CSA (the huge legal issues of that notwithstanding), would I be eligible for $25.50 face value in gold or silver coin? Perhaps even accounting for interest and inflation?
I think the US sees it differently. The CSA may never have signed a treaty (but didn't Lee surrender at Appomatix??), but the US never recognized the CSA in the first place. So, when they lost the war, they simply returned to the pre-war status (Please, no political opinions of any kind on this forum.).
Also, there was a court case in the 1880s where the US courts finally decreed that CSA bonds were worthless and would never be redeemed in whole or in part. I have some of the bonds that prompted this case, stored in London for a few decades after the war ended. So, debts of the CSA were officially recognized as invalid.
I have a $500 CSA note..... Too bad it is a replica....... That I paid $50 for....... Came in a box of cereal back in 1964. Long story. Lesson learned? Don't buy things you know nothing about.
