Got this today as part of my weekly fix at the LCS. I'm just starting the research on this note and I thought that this was the best place to go first. Thanks for any help and info.
You have an 1863 issue of the $5 Confederate note. The Confederacy issued 7,745,600 of these notes. The most interesting aspect of the 1863 notes was the date stamp. You piece was issued “July 1863.” From that date until the same month in 1864. Before or just after that, you had choice to turn it in for Confederate bonds, or the value of the note went, “Poof!” If you should see an 1863 note without the date stamp, it is very scare and quite collectible. This was a way to limit the money supply to combat inflation because there was too much money in circulation. It didn’t work, but it was an interesting idea. This applied to notes valued at $5 and up. The $1 and $2 notes were not part of program.
Printed by J.T. Peterson & Co. on plate block C with a hand written serial number of 83,153. It’s in VG condition. A nice piece dated April 6, 1863, just 3 months before Gettysburg.
I didn't realise that Confederate notes had an expiration date based on when they were issued and had to be exchanged for bonds etc. Obviously quite a few of them were not redeemed etc.
As I understand, many Confeddy notes were effectively circulating "treasury bonds," with a pay-back date of "6 months after ratification of a peace treaty between North and South." This was pretty optimistic. Basically, the idea was: Give us your money now, and IF we win you'll be paid back in interest. If you don't you'll lose everything. Wait, sort of sounds like the stock market...
Actually more like the Continental currency issued by the fledgling United States of North America: Which ended up finally being redeemed in the 1790s for a cent on the dollar - for bonds that were due in 1815. Benjamin Franklin is said to have surmised that the Continental Currency was in effect a tax for the Revolution, the payout essentially was a break from the British crown and a cent on the dollar in a bond due in 20+ years.
So far as I know, that was only for the 1863 series. It did not apply to the $1 and $2 notes. By then prices were getting so inflated that those could notes could not have bought much anyway. You might note that this piece is dated "July 1863" which means it was probably issued just after the Gettysburg Battle. BTW, genuine notes without the date stamp are worth a premium. It was really an error to have them issued that way.
