It’s also not money it’s war bonds. The fine print says “will pay the bearer $x 2 years after the ratification of a peace treaty between the us and cs”
Well it was before industrialization, and considering how much a dollar actually used to be worth you probably didn’t have nearly as many bank notes in circulation
Yeah, I remember hanging out with John Brown and he was ranting about how he was planning something special the next day (the man was always given to hyperbole...). As I recall, our steak dinners only cost a half-dozen eggs.
Really old bills often come from a bank, not the US treasury. So imagine a $5 bill from Associated Bank of Milwaukee. It's a promissory note and typically signed at the bank where it was issued. So yeah, they were signed in person. What's really wild is that in addition to banks, railroads and other large private companies also issued promissory notes. It isn't very efficient but it kind of makes sense. The railroad had lots of money and could be trusted to pay its debts. The currency is basically debt owed by the railroad.
I’m a sucker for little factoids like this. Imagine using a dollar bill issued by Microsoft lol. Probably not quite the same comparison but close I feel.
That's a perfectly legitimate transaction, though. You've got a $5 bill that Microsoft printed and promises to pay that value in gold or silver. You want to buy some groceries and the store also trusts Microsoft to back the value of the bill. You don't actually need to exchange it for gold or silver, as long as people trust Microsoft to pay their debts, the bill could be exchanged indefinitely.
That used to be standard. A company would effectively own a whole town. Most people were employed at a factory or mine owned by the company and they were paid in company scrip which they could spend at the company store. This also meant that the company controlled the prices of everything you would buy. This eventually got shut down with the labor rights movement in the early 20th century.
We call them gift cards today. You can sell them for cash and often trade the gift card for products not from that company - I'd guess apple cards are probably the most famous cards to be used in transactions outside of apple.
Yeah it's crazy. Like you said, each Town bank used to print its own money. I was into local history for a while and it was pretty nuts seeing currency issued by the bank of my local town, with local figures from the 16 to 1800s on it.
I'm guessing you would take these into the bank and they would exchange it for gold for you if you wanted. Most people probably didnt travel that far anyways.
I saw one old bank note that had a picture of Santa Claus on it. Banks were allowed to print their own bank notes provided that they had gold or silver reserves to back their value.
Top: A $50 bill from the Confederate States of America, featuring a portrait of Confederate President Jefferson Davis.
Middle: A $20 bill, dated February 17, 1864, featuring the Capitol building in Richmond, Virginia, and a portrait of Alexander H. Stephens, the Vice President of the Confederacy.
Bottom: A $5 bill, also dated February 17, 1864, featuring the Capitol building in Richmond, Virginia, and a portrait of Christopher Memminger, the first Confederate Secretary of the Treasury.
These notes were issued during the American Civil War by the Confederate government and became worthless after the Confederacy's defeat.
The condition of these specific notes, including the visible wear, creases, and discoloration, affects their value as collectibles.
A long time ago there was a lady in my hometown named Lizzie Porter, who likely inspired at least one Faulkner character. In her last years she was known to sit on her front porch and shoot at people walking down the sidewalk. The police chief frequently visited and thanked her for her service before handing her another box of shells. The shells were blanks of course, but she didn't know that.
Anyway when she died in the late 50's they found a metric shit ton of confederate money in the walls of the home. They took all that fake money and gave it to the prisoners at the county jail, for some reason.
When my grandmother died, the only thing she left me was $200 in confederate bills. I think mom gave it to my cousins.
Looks like replica money printed on standard paper. They used to sell these notes in toy stores in a packet of 5 bills.
It’s what this is
Fake
They are real. Real replicas. I threw away a half dozen of these just last month.
Yes these are replicas
It’s also not money it’s war bonds. The fine print says “will pay the bearer $x 2 years after the ratification of a peace treaty between the us and cs”
Originals would be hand signed in ink that turns brown over the years.
I think they are all tourist copies.
Holy shit original bills were all hand signed? I mean makes sense but damn I never even considered that lol.
Well it was before industrialization, and considering how much a dollar actually used to be worth you probably didn’t have nearly as many bank notes in circulation
Yea I figured pre-industrialization they weren’t paying $4 for 1 McChicken so there was a lot less notes to sign lol.
Yeah, I remember hanging out with John Brown and he was ranting about how he was planning something special the next day (the man was always given to hyperbole...). As I recall, our steak dinners only cost a half-dozen eggs.
we got too big
Really old bills often come from a bank, not the US treasury. So imagine a $5 bill from Associated Bank of Milwaukee. It's a promissory note and typically signed at the bank where it was issued. So yeah, they were signed in person. What's really wild is that in addition to banks, railroads and other large private companies also issued promissory notes. It isn't very efficient but it kind of makes sense. The railroad had lots of money and could be trusted to pay its debts. The currency is basically debt owed by the railroad.
I’m a sucker for little factoids like this. Imagine using a dollar bill issued by Microsoft lol. Probably not quite the same comparison but close I feel.
That's a perfectly legitimate transaction, though. You've got a $5 bill that Microsoft printed and promises to pay that value in gold or silver. You want to buy some groceries and the store also trusts Microsoft to back the value of the bill. You don't actually need to exchange it for gold or silver, as long as people trust Microsoft to pay their debts, the bill could be exchanged indefinitely.
That used to be standard. A company would effectively own a whole town. Most people were employed at a factory or mine owned by the company and they were paid in company scrip which they could spend at the company store. This also meant that the company controlled the prices of everything you would buy. This eventually got shut down with the labor rights movement in the early 20th century.
We call them gift cards today. You can sell them for cash and often trade the gift card for products not from that company - I'd guess apple cards are probably the most famous cards to be used in transactions outside of apple.
Holy shit you’re right.
Yeah it's crazy. Like you said, each Town bank used to print its own money. I was into local history for a while and it was pretty nuts seeing currency issued by the bank of my local town, with local figures from the 16 to 1800s on it.
I'm guessing you would take these into the bank and they would exchange it for gold for you if you wanted. Most people probably didnt travel that far anyways.
I saw one old bank note that had a picture of Santa Claus on it. Banks were allowed to print their own bank notes provided that they had gold or silver reserves to back their value.
No autopen invented yet
That damn autopen!
They sold those as souvenirs at Ft Sumter when I was a kid. Its 99% likely they're not original.
It’s called fascimile. Check the bottom back to tell you it’s fake
Give it a few years. I hear they are coming back into style.
Given the current administration, this will soon be legal currency again.
Trump bucks and Vance coins
Orange gold
Florida tea
We are getting Trump bucks next year
All the currencies will be under 18.
Looks like old paper to me. Not punishing the confederacy enough is part of what led us to the US of today.
That's not money. It's toilet paper
Probably fake reprints
I had some of those from the museum. They're replicas.
Curiosity got the best of me:
Top: A $50 bill from the Confederate States of America, featuring a portrait of Confederate President Jefferson Davis.
Middle: A $20 bill, dated February 17, 1864, featuring the Capitol building in Richmond, Virginia, and a portrait of Alexander H. Stephens, the Vice President of the Confederacy.
Bottom: A $5 bill, also dated February 17, 1864, featuring the Capitol building in Richmond, Virginia, and a portrait of Christopher Memminger, the first Confederate Secretary of the Treasury.
These notes were issued during the American Civil War by the Confederate government and became worthless after the Confederacy's defeat.
The condition of these specific notes, including the visible wear, creases, and discoloration, affects their value as collectibles.
THE CONFEDERACY('s currency value) SHALL RISE, AGAIN!
The $5 bill was only worth $3 anyway.
I found some of these in my great grandma's house. After she died, they were replicas printed in the 1970's
There was a time old Confederate money was useless, as I recall from an old Scooby-Doo episode. But because of its rarity, it has gone up in value.
A long time ago there was a lady in my hometown named Lizzie Porter, who likely inspired at least one Faulkner character. In her last years she was known to sit on her front porch and shoot at people walking down the sidewalk. The police chief frequently visited and thanked her for her service before handing her another box of shells. The shells were blanks of course, but she didn't know that.
Anyway when she died in the late 50's they found a metric shit ton of confederate money in the walls of the home. They took all that fake money and gave it to the prisoners at the county jail, for some reason.
When my grandmother died, the only thing she left me was $200 in confederate bills. I think mom gave it to my cousins.
Might be usable again with a few more racist speeches by Trump.
Post in paper money and you can get values
They usually have some value but not a lot in most cases. Very interesting stuff, though.
ain’t got no new money, got a whole lotta old money though
Sell it to ebay or Amazon. You get very high price
Scratchiest toilet paper out there.
That's right
Very cool! Thanks for sharing