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Message:: [QUOTE="johnmilton, post: 4266855, member: 101855"]Confederate Fractional Notes       Several Confederate cities and states issued fractional paper money. It was often printed on cheap paper, and sometimes the paper was re-cycled from old or never issued notes. Remnants of the designs on the old notes are visible on the back of these pieces. I have notes issued from Alabama, Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina in my small collection. I also have one 75 cent note that was issued by the City of Richmond, Virginia. These pieces are often seen at the shows and may be found in an array of designs.       The Confederate States of America issued 50 cent notes in 1863 and ’64. Those notes featured a profile portrait of Jefferson Davis. The designs were the same for the two years except for the date. They are fairly common, and are usually in decent condition. During the last two years of the war, inflation had made the 50 cent notes almost worthless. North Carolina 25 Cent Note [ATTACH=full]1086810[/ATTACH] Confederate States of America 50 Cent Note [ATTACH=full]1086815[/ATTACH]   Northern City and Town Issued fractional Notes       In addition to the notes issued by the Federal Government, Northern cities and towns also issued fractional notes. My collection includes a 5 cent note from Wilmington, Delaware and a 10 cent note from Jersey City, New Jersey. There are many more notes available in addition to these pieces. [ATTACH=full]1086817[/ATTACH]   Business Script       Some businesses issued factional notes printed with their name on them. Since no one, other than the business that issued them, had an obligation to honor them, these notes played a limited role in the economy. The values were often the conventional 5, 10, 25 and 50 cent denominations.       I have a few of these privately issued notes in my collection. The most interesting one is a 20 cent note that was issued for the Mount Pleasant Apothecary Store which was located in Roxbury, Massachusetts. Elliot Woodward, one of the foremost coin dealers and auctioneers of the 19th century, owned this pharmacy. Woodward conducted 108 coin auctions from 1862 to 1890. During his career he sold a Brasher Doubloon and an 1804 Dollar. He was also sold stamps, books, antiques and other collectables, and he published reprints of rare books. In 1870 his estate was valued at $330,000, which was a considerable sum at that time. Elliot Woodward ran a drug store and was also one of the leading auctioneers of old U.S. coins in the 19th century. [ATTACH=full]1086818[/ATTACH] Southern Fractional Business Script       Southern merchants and businesses also issued fractional pieces. The most interesting southern note in my collection is a 50 cent piece that was issued by The Western & Atlantic Railroad. This note brings to mind one of the most daring capers of the Civil War.       On the morning of April 2, 1862, James Andrews, a Union spy, and his men stole The General a railroad locomotive that was owned by Western & Atlantic Railroad. The Western & Atlantic, which was owned by the State of Georgia, ran a line between Atlanta, Georgia and Chattanooga, Tennessee. It was one of the most important railroad arteries in the South. Andrews and his men, who were dressed in civilian clothes, planned to destroy as much of the track as they could to disrupt service.       The General had stopped and was left almost unattended that morning at Big Shanty Station so that the passengers and crew could eat breakfast. As soon as he saw that the train had been stolen, conductor William Fuller set off after The General. Fuller ran on foot until he could get a handcar. At Emerson, Georgia Fuller commandeered a locomotive, the Yonah, which took him to Kingston. There he grabbed another locomotive, the William R. Smith, which took him to within two miles of Adairsville where he had to stop because Andrews raiding party had torn up the tracks. Back on foot, Fuller ran to Adairsville where he grabbed a third locomotive, the Texas.       In the meantime, Andrews and his party were having more problems than they had anticipated. Although they had been able to cut some telegraph lines, they had been unable to do as much damage to the tracks as they had planned. A light rain prevented them from setting fire to the timbers on the roadbed and bridges. They had chopped up a wooden boxcar for fuel, but they were running out of wood to power the General.       Undaunted, Fuller continued his pursuit of the Union raiders. The Texas was facing in the wrong direction when he commandeered it, but that did not prevent Fuller from chasing after The General running in reverse at full steam.       Finally Andrews and his raiders ran out of wood and had to abandon The General. They scattered into the countryside, but Confederate forces captured most of them. Andrews and seven of his men were hanged as spies ending one of the most colorful chapters of the war. Today The General and Texas locomotives are on display in Georgia museums. [ATTACH=full]1086819[/ATTACH]   Civil War Tokens       By far the most common of the Civil War substitute currencies were the Civil War tokens. These pieces were most often made of copper or brass although some varieties were issued in lead, white metal, German silver and even hard rubber for general circulation. Most Civil War tokens had the diameter of a cent and were usually traded as cents. Some varieties are larger, in some cases half dollar size or greater, but those pieces are unusual.       Some Civil War tokens are made of silver, but those pieces were mostly made for contemporary collectors and were often struck over dimes. The most common silver Civil War token is a piece that was made at the June 1864 Philadelphia Sanitary Fair. Those tokens were struck on a Philadelphia Mint coin press that had been moved to the floor of the exposition and were sold for 50 cents apiece. Bronze pieces sold for ten cents. A few token varieties, that were sold to collectors, are gold plated. There are no genuine Civil War tokens that are made of solid gold, although a few fabrications have been made to fool collectors or satisfy their demands over the years. Civil War tokens are divided into three major categories: The Patriotic tokens cannot be attributed to a specific merchant. Some of them carried pro- and anti- Union messages. Many of them had designs that might have made people think they had value. Those included a resemblance to the coins one might see, like an Indian cent or a design similar to the liberty heads that appeared on gold pieces. Some pieces read “Not One Cent,” “I.O.U. One Cent” or had a phrase like “Our Cent” which looked similar to “One Cent” at first glance. All but one Civil War token reverse die, did not copy to the Federal coinage of the period. If such copies of Federal coinage had been issued, charges of counterfeiting would have been the result. [ATTACH=full]1086828[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1086829[/ATTACH] The Civil War Store Cards can be attributed to a specific merchant. They often had the address of their place of business included in the design. Most merchants had a custom die made for their business and paired that with a stock die that was used for other merchants’ and Patriotic tokens. There are far more Civil War store card varieties than Patriotic varieties. Most Store Cards had an implied value of one cent, but there were a few pieces that had higher denominations. For example, Tuttle’s Restaurant in Boston, Massachusetts issued 5, 10, 25 and 50 cent tokens. All of them were the same size, but had different values marked on the reverse in the center of the piece. A rare salamander press token, issued by Joseph Merrium. [ATTACH=full]1086837[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1086838[/ATTACH] To be continued ...[/QUOTE]

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