I went to the small paper money show that was held at the Florida Fairgrounds yesterday. Pierre Frike was that with his usual large stock of Confederate notes. I was able to add one new type note, which is unusual for me. I'm now down to one expensive note and "the big six" which are mega expensive. Here it is. It's #32. This note is fairly scarce with only 20,333 issued. Today it's rated as an R-6, not so common, with an estimated population of 501 to 1,000 known in all grades. I think that it is more toward 500 than 1,000 pieces. Frike also had a selection of Trans Mississippi notes. Most everyone remembers the Battle of Gettysburg where the South lost in its most ambitious invasion of the North. Historians view it as the turning point of the Civil War. Overlooked is the fall of Vicksburg, Mississippi which was almost a devastating to the South as the loss at Gettysburg. Vicksburg was the last Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River. Grant had had it under siege for months, and when it fell, the South was cut in two. Part of Louisiana, and all of Texas and Arkansas were cut off from the rest of the South. In order to supply currency to that severed area, the southern government revived notes that had been redeemed and canceled. They stamped them with a red or black seal and re-issued them. Here is one such note. It is T-30, $10 note with a circular Red Trans Mississippi stamp on it. The remarkable thing about this piece is that it grades AU-58, despite the fact that it was issued twice. This is very unusual for a Trans Mississippi note. The center vignette on this piece is “General Francis Marion’s Sweet Potato Dinner.” Here, General Marion, who was better known as “The Swamp Fox,” is entertaining a British officer during the Revolutionary War. The note is fairly common.
General Francis Marion is still very revered in South Carolina. Many locales in the low country bear his name. Seems I once read that the movie "The Patriot" was loosely based upon the man.... Beautiful notes.
Here is another Trans Mississippi note I bought yesterday. This one saw some use and was cross-cut canceled and re-issued. This is a T-18.
