During times of stress, and sometimes during of poor management, nations have resorted to issuing fiat paper money to pay their bills. Modern economic theory now says that this system can work if it is done on moderation. Money does not have to be backed by gold or silver to hold its value. The trick is to keep the amount of money in circulation (called the money supply) in proportion to the size and grownth of the nation’s economy. By 1863, The Confederate States of American had been issuing large quantities of fait currency for two years. The Confederate Secretary of the Treasury, Christopher Memminger, knew that he had to get a handle on the amount of money that was in circulation. Inflation was already out of the control, and issuing more currency would only make it worse. His plan was to date stamp the notes. The Confederate Government approved the issuance of $50 million per month in notes in denominations from $5 to $100 on March 23, 1863. In addition, they authorized another $15 million in 50 cent, one dollar and two dollar notes. The designs were to be same as they had been in late 1862. The $5 through $100 notes were printed on white paper. The 50 cent to $2 notes were printed on pink paper. It was thought that the pink paper would discourage counterfeits, but inflation had left the low denomination notes with so little value that it was hardly worth the counterfeiters’ while to copy them. Treasury Secretary Memminger came up with the idea to date stamping all of the $5 through $100 notes with the month they were issued. Within a year, the holders of these notes could convert them into 6% Confederate bonds, or watch them become worthless. This provided a rather ingenious way to get some excess money out of circulation. All of the $5 through $100 notes still made the promise that they would be redeemed “two years after the ratification of a treaty of peace between The Confederate States and The United States.” Since no such treaty as ever been completed, nor will it ever be, this promise has been kept in a way. At any rate here are photos of the 1863 notes in this message and the next one. The Fifty Cent Note This small note a profile portrait of Jefferson Davis. It was printed by the Archer & Daly Company that was in Richmond Virginia. The number issued was 1,831,517, and it is a common note. The serial number was added with a numbering machine. The $1 Note These notes did not have a back because it was not considered to be worth the effort to print a back on them. These small notes saw a lot of use so EF, AU and Uncirculated notes are a bit scarce. The circulated notes are common. 1,615,600 were issued. The vignette is of Clement C. Clay, who was a Confederate senator from Alabama. The $2 Note Like the 50 cent and $1 notes, the $2 note is scarce in high grade. I have found that locating nice the Confederate $2 notes is challenging. In addition to the fact that they were well used, the folks who cut the sheets of currency were not inclined to do a great job. Think about what it's like though several pieces of paper at a time time with a pair sissors. If the paper moves, you don't get a great cut. Finding pieces with full borders is a challenge. The vignette is of Judah P. Benjamin. He was on the only high ranking Jewish person on the Confederate cabinet. During the war he served as the secretaries of state and war as well as the attorney general. After the war he fled to England where he became a major and much admired figure in the British judiciary. The $5 Note This was the lowest denomination note to have a back on it. The idea was to make life harder for the counterfeiters although it did not totally discourage them. Note that this note has a September 1863 date stamp in red on the right. The vignette is of Secretary of the Treasury Memminger. He was a German immigrate. Soon after his arrival in The United States, his last remaining parent, his mother, died living him an orphan. Memminger took the lead before in after the war in establishing schools in Charlestown, South Carolina. After the war he established a school that educated orphaned children of all races. The $10 Note This note featured the proposed capital of South Carolina. The vignette is of R. M. T. Hunter who was briefly the secretary of state and a Confederate senator. The $20 Note This note features a photo of the State Capital in Nashville, Tennessee. The vignette is of Alexander Stephens who was the vice president of the Confederacy. Stephens was a small, sickly looking man who was noted for his great intelligence. The term "Smart Alec" was inspired by him. Before the war, he was friends with Abraham Lincoln when they were in Congress. After the war, Stephens was a member of the U.S. Congress and a Governor of Georgia. Next Message!!!
The $50 Note This note featured Jefferson Davis president of the Confederacy. Like all of these notes, it starts to become scarce in EF and Uncirculated. The $100 Note The featured vignette on this note is Lucy Pickens, who was the wife of the Governor of South Carolina. The smaller vignette was George Wythe Randolph who was the secretary of war. Overall, the Confederacy issued $517,900,00 worth of these notes. Given the fact that these notes are fairly common today, many people appeared to have “ate the loss” when their expiration dates passed. This is a very collectable series. The 1864 notes are a bit easier while the 1862 notes are a bit harder. The 1861 notes are where the big collectors are separated from the smaller collectors. Thirty-seven of the 70 types of Confederate notes were issued in 1861, and quite a number of them are scarce and expensive.
I remember as a kid in the early 1960's you could buy confederate money by the pound. Then they became collectable. Reminds me of the thousands of baseball cards I used to have. Se la vie..
Some of the Confederate paper money you might have seen in the '60s was bogus. I have read that you could buy the stuff in dime stores. There are also contemporary counterfiets that are collectable. There is whole book about them.
Cheerios Premium money was issued in 1954. For 25 cents and a Cheerios box top you received nine notes and an album. Cheerios is probably the best of all the older reproductions. Cheerios claims to have issued more Confederate currency then the Confederacy.
I have seen pictures of this set before. It looks kind of neat, but if the bills have backs, it can pose a problem. The 50 cent, $1, $2 and $500 don't have backs.
Another superb article. I have the five, ten, and twenty dollar notes. Now I'll have to dig them out of my safe tonight to see if they have the date stamp on them.
There were several outfits besides Cheerios who reproduced Confederate currency. Many businesses used them as an advertising tool and, why I'll never know, these also are being collected. Since the end of the Civil War outfits up through the 1900s have manufactured paper in the style used during that era. As it is with coins counterfeits abound. I often wonder how many the Chinese are making???
Thank you. Well done. Are the designs for 1861, 1864 and any other years the same except for the date?
The designs from late 1862 and all of 1863 and 1864 look like the Confederate currency that the public and casual collectors would recognize. The 1861 notes are all over the place with respect to designs. They were made by five or six different venders, and the quality ranged from really good from the Southern Banknote Company to rather comic. I will post a few samples of the 1861 notes after this post, but here are examples of the $50 note from 1862 to '64: 1862 1863 1864
Here are some examples of the Confederate 1861 notes. All but one variety has only one side. Overall there were 37 varieties. Bankers warned the government that it was making the counterfeiters' job easier by issuing so many different varieties of notes even for the same denomination. It took some hard knocks for the government officials to get the message. The Southern Banknote Company was the southern branch of the National Banknote Company, located in New York City. The National Banknote Company printed the first four varieties of Confederate notes, so-called "Montgomery issues" because the first capital of the Confederacy was located there before it moved to Richmond, Virginia. The Southern Banknote Company was located in New Orleans. It made high quality notes, but it did have enough capacity to meet the Confederate Government’s needs, which forced them to look for other venders. When the Union took New Orleans on May 1, 1862, that was the end of the Southern Banknote Company. Here a $100 note made by the Southern Banknote Company. It is listed as T-5 in the guide books. This note was made by Keatinge & Ball. It is a high quality note on good bank paper. The variety is T-21. The Confederacy more examples of this note in 1861 than any other variety of $20 note in 1861 and '62. It was printed medium quality paper and was extensively counterfeited. The variety is T-18. This $10 note was printed on low quality paper that did not hold well in circulation. The platework was quite a bit below the standards set by the Southern Banknote Company. The variety is T-28. This $50 note is similar to the notes that would appear in later years, but it has only one side. This variety T-16. I will never acquire all of the 1861 notes because of the rarity and cost. They cover the classic rarities in the series. It is possible to collect them, but you have to step up with a lot of cash.
This website by Crutch Williams is useful for detecting counterfeit CSA notes. http://www.crutchwilliams.com/BogusCSA_RoTx.html
I've used this website on numerous occasions when buying Rebel or Texas notes. Thanks for posting it.
No one can ever replace the Colonel, with the neon polyester sport coats and plaid polyester slacks. Once at Long Beach when he walked by, a dealer friend exclaimed, "Look at Grover - he looks like a psychedelic orgasm." I will never forget that, nor how hard I laughed.
