The Confederate States of America Dollar
Saturday, October 11th, 2008
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Two months after the formation of the Confederacy, the Confederate States of America Dollar was born, adding color to the already illustrious history of the United States currency . First issued in 1861, on the eve of the Civil War, these dollar bills lasted throughout the infamous conflict and became worthless by the end of it.
The Confederate States of America Dollars came in denominations of $1/10, $½, $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100, $500, and $1,000. Its type and designs came in 72 separate varieties and within almost 5 years of its lifespan, was produced in seven different phases of series, ranging from 1861 to 1865. The currency also had numerous issuers and redeemable obligations. Under the multiple acts of the Confederate Congress, it is said that the total amount of the currency produced throughout this period totaled close to $1.7 billion.
The Confederate States of America Dollars, or CSA notes, was initially well received as means of trade with great buying capabilities. This didn’t last long as the war progressed though, resulting in diminished confidence in the currency. The amount of paper currency production began to increase and its redemption dates extended, depreciating the currency even further, and ultimately increasing inflation. It was said that a bar of soap during the time cost as much as $50, while an ordinary suit would be priced at $2700! By the end of the war, and probably caused by the Confederacy failure to remain intact, the currency became obsolete and was no longer considered as fiat money.
Counterfeiting was a huge concern with the CSA notes as well, due to its immense numbers and assortments. This was also largely attributed to the fact that all of the confederate states and banks were given the liberty to print and issue their own notes as and when it pleases. Interestingly enough, many of these existing forgeries remains valuable to collectors today.
The mass counterfeit of the Confederate States of America Dollars is also said to be credited to the lack of skilled engravers and printers, as well as secure printing facilities. This resulted in a lot of extraneous designs, such as mythological gods and goddesses, with southern themes like the depictions of African-American slaves smiling or happily going about their work, naval ships, and historical figures. Later issues pictured prominent Southern politicians, military leaders, and citizens.
This lack in quality was also narrowed down to more ancient printing processes, as most modern printing equipments and skilled engravers were only found up North, forcing the Southern printers to use lithographic processed scenes and offset lifting of the printing plates, to produce these notes instead.
The signatures on this currency was also not printed-on but hand-signed by the Register and Treasurer themselves, and although this practice is considered as an anti-counterfeiting method, large numbers of clerks were hired to eventually sign on behalf of the Register and Treasurer, respectively.
Surprisingly, albeit the shortage in precious metal, the Confederate States of America did manage to mint its own coinage. In 1861, one cent coin pieces were struck using nickel, with the Liberty Head design on the obverse. The Confederacy also did strike half dollar coins at the New Orleans Mint, although this fact eluded authorities until 1879, and 504 pieces of these coins were said to be minted during this period in time.
