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Message:: [QUOTE="johnmilton, post: 4266815, member: 101855"]"Take Ayers Pills" [ATTACH=full]1086794[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1086795[/ATTACH] Fractional Currency       In August 1862, the Union Government introduced the first issue of fractional currency, which is also known as Postage Currency. The idea grew out of discussions between the Post Office and Treasury Departments. The result was an agreement to issue stamps in a larger, more convenient size without the gum on the back.  U.S. Treasurer, E.F Spinner, made some prototypes by gluing some stamps on Treasury Department letterheads. These notes were technically illegal because they went beyond the authority Congress had authorized in its July 1862 legislation. No one complained because they were badly needed in the economy.       Postage Currency was issued in four denominations, 5, 10, 25 and 50 cents. The 5 and 25 pieces were mustard colored with brown printing. An image of a 5 cent stamp appeared on the five cent piece, and five overlapping five cent stamps were on the quarter dollar. The 10 and 50 cent pieces were green and white with 10 cent stamp images appearing on those pieces.       Like virtually all paper money, fractional currency was printed in sheets. Like stamps, some pieces had perforations around each note which was intended to facilitate the separation of individual notes from the sheet. After the perforations proved to be less convenient than they might have seemed, the notes were cut apart in the conventional manner. The notes with the perforated edges are scarcer with the 50 cent piece especially so. Postal Currency 50 cent note, perforated edges [ATTACH=full]1086797[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1086798[/ATTACH] Postal Currency 40 cent note, plain edges [ATTACH=full]1086799[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1086800[/ATTACH]       Counterfeiting was a problem with Fractional Currency. In October 1863, the Union Government introduced the second series of Fractional Currency. All four denominations had the same design on the front. It featured a riverboat to the left and some freight, a wagon and a mid-19th century steam locomotive on the right. A portrait of George Washington was in the center. The only difference in the design on the front among the four denominations was the value which was shown on either side of the Washington portrait and in the four corners. The reverses were brown for the 5 cent, green for the 10 cent, purple for the 25 cent and red for the 50 cent piece.       All of the notes had an oval halo, an anti-counterfeiting device, around the Washington portrait that looked like gold when it was new. The oval was actually made of finely ground copper. Like a copper cent the oval turned brown when it oxidized and under the right conditions, could corrode and turn green. Counterfeiters were never able to duplicate “the golden oval,” but they did place a brown and even a green oval around the Washington portrait on their illicit products.       The “golden copper,” anti-counterfeit ink also appeared on the back of these notes. The denomination in large digit(s), appeared in the center and so-called “surcharges” which were letters or numbers, appeared on the four corners on some notes. Fractional Currency, "second issue," 5 cent note [ATTACH=full]1086802[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1086803[/ATTACH]       The third series of Fractional Currency, authorized in June 1864, was that last group that the Union Government issued during the Civil War. A 3 cent note was added and a 15 cent note was proposed but never officially issued. Each note was a different size with the dimensions increasing with the face value of the piece. Many intricate design elements were added to these pieces to discourage counterfeiting. Some pieces also included the “golden copper” overprints that had been used on the previous Fractional Currency issue. After the war, the government placed two additional series of Fractional Currency into circulation. The last fractional notes were issued in 1876.  Third Issue Fractional currency, 25 cent note. [ATTACH=full]1086805[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1086806[/ATTACH] To be continued ...[/QUOTE]

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