finance-worldwide

Confederate State Notes

By: Johnny Kicklighter

Perhaps the most interesting portrait to appear on Confederate money is that of John E. Ward. His portrait was on a $10 bill in 1861. The irony is, although a native of Georgia and a holder of high offices, he was not in favor of secession. In fact, Mr. Ward left the South partly because he did not support the Confederate cause.

From the beginning of the Civil War, both the Union and Confederate governments resorted to paper money to finance their efforts. They did not want to restrict themselves to the hard money, i.e., gold and silver coin that was the predominate issue before the war. Paper money up to this point consisted of notes issued by private banks, state and local governments, railroads, and merchants. Nearly all these notes were printed by specialty bank note printers located in the North, mainly in New York.
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