When the Confederate States of America (C.S.A.) seceded from the United States of America and the Civil War began in 1861, the C.S.A. had to provide governmental services that the United States government had previously provided.
No government can function without money, and the C.S.A. was no different. The C.S.A. established their own treasury, which began to issue its own paper currency, a few coins, bonds, postage stamps, and other financial documents needed to operate the new nation. Confederate currency provides a glimpse into one of the darkest parts of our nation's history.
The manufacture of Confederate currency was far different from the methods and styles of today's United States currency, although there are striking parallels in its intrinsic value and the way that the public perceived that value.
Southern leaders knew the dangers of currency inflation in destabilizing an economy and did not originally intend to issue unlimited amounts of paper currency. Unlike the United States, which backed its currency with gold, the Confederacy intended to back its currency with cotton. The South produced over four million bales of cotton in 1860, most of the world's supply. Over three-fourths of Southern cotton production was exported for sale, and cotton was in great demand. Half of the exported cotton went to England.
At first, backing the currency with cotton seemed to be a reasonable plan. However, things quickly changed when England planted a good supply of its own cotton and the United States imposed a blockade on the Confederacy.
While the United States circulates only a few types or styles of currency at any given time, in the brief period between 1861 and 1864 the Confederacy made seven currency issues consisting of seventy-two types of notes. Over the Confederate States of America's life ten cent, fifty cent, one dollar, two dollar, five dollar, ten dollar, twenty dollar, fifty dollar, one hundred dollar, five hundred dollar, and one thousand dollar note denominations were issued.
Confederate currency was first issued on March 9, 1861.
Confederate currency manufacture was a crude process by today's standards. A printing press printed several bills on a single sheet, somewhat like today. Authentic Confederate notes often have rough, uneven edges because scissors or shears rather than mechanical paper cutters were used to slice the sheets into individual bills.
Unlike today's money, all 1861 and most 1862 Confederate notes were only printed on the front side with a blank back. The backs of five dollar and higher denominations issued on December 2, 1862 and in 1863 and 1864 were printed in blue ink. The back of the 1864 $500 note was blank.
Fifty-cent notes and some lower denomination notes were printed on pink paper. White paper was used for other denominations, but by now it may have browned due to handling and age depending on the bill's condition. Some paper had "CSA" watermarks printed in block or script letters. Still other notes contained colored threads.
Each bill also contained hand-printed items that were used as a security measure. The serial number, rather than being press-printed, was either stamped or hand-written in one or two places on each bill. The ink might or might not be the same color as the signatures, depending on the issue.
The fifty cent note had printed signatures of either Robert Tyler, shown as "Ro. Tyler" or Edward C. Elmore, shown as "El Elmore." However, all bills other than the fifty cent note were hand-signed in ink and displayed the signatures of the C.S.A.'s Register and Treasurer. The sheer number of bills produced makes it apparent that two men could not personally sign every note, so up to two hundred female clerks were hired to hand-sign currency for each official.
Ink used for the hand-written inscriptions was very acidic. Over the years, the ink has eaten into the paper of many specimens, now appears medium to dark brown, and may have gone completely through to the back.
Like today's paper money, Confederate currency was worth only what Southern citizens perceived its value to be. Like today's United States dollar, but to a far greater extent, Confederate money suffered greatly from lack of confidence and runaway inflation.
Both the United States and Confederate States subscribed to the gold standard during the Civil War years, meaning that each respective government's treasury backed each dollar in their paper currency with a certain amount of gold reserves. Each dollar in Confederate notes was backed by 95 cents of gold when they were first issued. Therefore, Confederate notes were readily accepted in the South at the beginning of the war and had high purchasing power.
However, as the war progressed, several things happened that affected use of Confederate currency. As Union blockades and a very expensive and protracted war strained the Confederacy's resources, they printed more money even though their gold reserves had not increasied. By the time the war ended, the Confederacy had issued almost two billion dollars in notes. The Confederate Congress also issued bonds, which are a loan carrying a legal obligation for repayment, to finance the war.
In addition to the seven currency series authorized by the Confederate Congress, various Confederate states like Virginia and Georgia printed their own notes to finance their war costs. Confederate banks could also print and issue their own money.
The large variety of offically-issued Confederate notes, plus state and bank issued notes, made counterfeiting easy. The Union exploited the situation by printing counterfeit Confederate notes and distributing them in the South to further undermine Southern currency.
As the war continued and it became more apparent that the South was losing the military conflict, faith in Confederate money waned. Flooded with paper currency and losing on the military front, inflation became rampant and prices soared. Confederate currency purchasing power dropped to thirty three cents on the gold dollar by 1863, and 1.6 cents on the dollar by the time General Lee surrendered on April 9, 1865. A bar of common soap might sell for $50 and an ordinary suit of clothing might cost $2,500.
Near the end of the war, Confederate currency became almost worthless. Barter and black-market United States "greenbacks" became the main medium of exchange. On May 1, 1865 Confederate currency was being exchanged at a rate of 1,200 Confederate dollars for one gold dollar. For comparison, the lowest exchange rate for United States dollars (the greenback) was $0.39 on the gold dollar, reached on July 11, 1864. When the war ended and the Confederate States of America ceased to exist, its money lost all value as an exchange medium.
Somewhat like the old saying "the South will rise again," Confederate notes are far from worthless today. Most heavily printed issues can still be found, while the less plentiful series are becoming extremely hard to find. Prices range from under one hundred dollars for the most common series to tens of thousands for the rarest.
Oddly enough, most contemporary Confederate counterfeits are documented today and can be worth as much to a collector as a real note. We should clarify that "contemporary counterfiets" are counterfeit Confederate notes printed during the 1860's, not reproduction or "fake" Confederate bills printed in modern times. There are a large number of fake or modern reproduction Confederate bills in circulation, too, so e-Bayers be careful!
There is an interesting sidelight linked to Northeast Texas concerning the one dollar bill shown at the top of this page. A picture of South Carolina Governor Francis W. Pickens' wife Lucy is shown in the bill's lower right corner.
Lucy Petway Holcombe Pickens (June 11, 1832 - August 8, 1899) was a 19th Century American socialite, known as the Queen of the Confederacy and a stereotypical "Southern belle". She was born to Beverly LaFayette Holcombe and Eugenia Dorothea Hunt Holcombe at the family plantation near La Grange, Tennessee.
In 1848, the Holcombes moved to Marshall, Texas and lived in the Capitol Hotel while waiting for their plantation, the Wyalucing, to be built.
Slave labor constructed the two-story brick Wyalucing plantation home on a hilltop between 1848 and 1850. The home resembled a rectangular Grecian temple, with columns on all four sides. Westover, a second cottage-style residence, was built on the west end of Holcombe's 100-acre tract. A street lined by slave cabins linked the two homes.
Lucy met Colonel Francis Wilkinson Pickens of South Carolina in the summer of 1857, and he proceeded to court her with little success. However, in January 1858, he accepted an appointment as the United States ambassador to Russia. Suddenly, she accepted his proposal and they were married at Wyalucing on April 26, 1858. Some might call her a "social climber."
Lucy became a favorite at Czar Alexander II's Russian court, and she and her husband befriended Alexander and his wife Maria Alexandrovna. The tsar and tsaritsa became Godparents of the Pickens' daughter and the tsar nicknamed her Douschka, meaning Darling in Russian.
The Pickens returned home in August 1860 due to a longing for South Carolina and its increasing movement toward secession. The South Carolina General Assembly elected Francis W. Pickens as governor on December 17, just three days before South Carolina seceeded from the Union. Lucy advocated Confederate secession, and was the only woman ever depicted on its currency. She was featured on three issues of the $100 bill and one issue of the $1 bill, which were printed in Columbia, South Carolina. She was also featured on one issue of $1,000 CSA loan certificates.
Wyalucing was the scene of many social events in the antebellum period. During the Civil War it served as headquarters for the Confederate Post Office Department's Trans-Mississippi Agency. In the spring of 1865 Confederate general Joseph O. Shelby addressed the troops of his Iron Brigade from Wyalucing's veranda just before they departed on the Shelby expedition.
In 1880 former Harrison County slaves purchased the home for Bishop College, a historically black college founded by the Baptist Home Mission Society as the result of a movement to build a college for African-American Baptists started by Nathan Bishop.
In the early 20th century, led by Joseph J. Rhoads, the college's first African-American president, Bishop phased out its high school programs and emphasized its new two-year ministerial program. During the 1930s and 1940s the program evolved into the Lacy Kirk Williams Institute, which attracted national attention. Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rev. Jesse Jackson both attended the Lacy Kirk Williams Institute. Wyalucing was used as the music hall in the 1940s.
The Harrison County Historical Society tried to preserve Wyalucing when Bishop College moved to Dallas in 1961, but the plantation building was demolished in the early 1960s. A low-rent housing development now sits on the land.
