a co-worker of mine found these notes in the bottom of a bank vault he's cleaning out. i know pretty much zero when it comes to confederate currency, but one thing i've learned in the last couple hours of research is that there's a lot of counterfeits and reprints out there. i want to say these all seem to pass the various legitimacy tests i've found (brown ink, not parchment paper, ink bleeding through onto the back, etc), but i know there's a pro around these parts who can take a look and just know right away. so here's the notes. if anyone wants a closer look at any particular note, let me know. thanks for looking!
Man, I love stories like this. My business caters to construction and many years ago the building in Columbia South Carolina where much of this currency was printed underwent a renovation. It had sat dormant since the early 20th century. I went in with the demolition crews just knowing something would be there to find... Alas, all there was were a few old whiskey bottles. I am far from an expert but am familiar with the five and ten dollar notes in the middle photos. They were printed in Columbia and I have collected a number of those notes. To my eyes they do appear genuine. Sadly, there is little intrinsic value in them so I would surmise that it would be a losing proposition for a counterfeiting operation. Way cool find!
the only note i've not been able to successfully search out is the first one, "the city of jefferson" (jeff city, mo?) one dollar, july 5 1862. i can't find any similar examples. for all the others, i've been able to at least find photos of them online that lend weight to mine being authentic (or at least, very visually similar to authentic versions).
The $100 bills were printed in Columbia as well. I just bought 2 at Heritage last night, (nicer condition though).
found it. jefferson louisiana municipal scrip. https://www.icollector.com/Jefferson-LA-City-of-Jefferson-1-July-5-1862_i7639018
You want to compare the ink on the signatures with the ink on the rest of the bill. If it is noticeably different they can be real.
on those where the signatures are still visible, the ink from the names is indeed different from the rest of the printing. except for the 100s, where the names are pretty close. and the red ink on those handrwitten serials seems vibrant for being 150+ years old. but the paper is consistent with the others and the quality of the notes is all in the same ballpark, as if they'd been kept together in that condition for a really long time. so i guess i'm still leaning towards authentic for now.
That's a good sign. Because copies made with a photo copier the inks will be the same. Of course condition is always an issue and some of the notes are in bad shape. But this is a specialized area and some of the notes could be very rare.
The notes all appear to be genuine. A few of them I am not familiar with but most of them are common and low in value. With paper money, even CSA notes, condition is everything and these are all in poor condition. It's a great find and nice to have a bit of history like this. The two most common bils are the $10.00 horses pulling cannons and the $100.00 slaves and cotton.
That's a great story, thanks for posting. If all proves to be real start the research. You just may have an interesting piece of history.
The two bottom $100 notes are almost certainly fake. I'd need better scans/pics to be 100%, but I am 96% sure right now about it. The $20 *might* be fake but the fakes and the real note retail about the same for the most part. But those bottom $100 are almost certainly bogus. The CSA $2, $5's, and $10's are all real. The other state issued obsoletes also appear real.
Are there any really valuable Confederate currency pieces ? Can you find notes in Gem Mint quality ? I would think this should be a much larger niche among collectors, including Civil War afficionados, but I don't read much on most forums (including here) relative to other niches. Maybe I'm wrong ? Are there Confederate Currency-ony events ?
I live in the Deep South and those notes are fairly common around here. I do have one collecting buddy that is fully engrossed in confederate notes and has a huge collection. There are a few dealers I know of that specialize in them. I think with most folks around here they are an interesting side note to their collection.
I guess if the collector universe is small, you can have a liquidity problem and/or can't make enough $$$ if you are a dealer by only focusing on that. Sort of like if you were a coin shop and only dealt in silver or gold coins. Or a baseball card shop that only dealt with 1950's NY teams.
Yes, many valuable Confederate notes, especially the first issues. You can find them in UNC, though GEM is tougher just because of the paper and printing/cutting methods used. But they absolutely exist. Plenty of CSA collectors out there. I have a pretty good collection but nothing like what a top CSA collector will have with rare notes. Ive some some rarer notes but the valuable stuff is pretty pricey. Not sure about CSA only events... that be getting pretty small. But CSA notes are available in all auctions at all auction sites. No major US currency auction will fail to include them.
