5 and 10 Dollars Plate, Made in New York, Captured in New Orleans, Louisiana, July 2, 1861
date: label: date made
content: 1861-07-02
name: label: maker
content: unknown
notes: label: Description
content: After the war began and the Union cut off trade with the South, Confederate Treasury Secretary Christopher G. Memminger found that he could no longer rely on Northern printers. He turned instead to the New Orleans branch of the American Bank Note Company, the only shop in the South with the skilled engravers and printing equipment required to produce high-quality bills that were hard to counterfeit. Samuel Schmidt, general manager of the New Orleans branch, changed the name of the bank to the Southern Bank Note Company and was contracted to produce notes using this plate, which was made in New York for the Confederacy. Just two weeks before the capture of New Orleans, Schmidt finished his contract and shipped the last batch of 2,760 notes to Memminger. But, soon after the Confederate city fell, the plate was confiscated by Union forces.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Louisiana, New Orleans
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: National Numismatic Collection
label: See more items in
content: Civil War
label: See more items in
content: Coins, Currency and Medals
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: NU.35527
label: catalog number
content: 35527
label: accession number
content: 91728
objectType: label: Object Name
content: plate
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: steel (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 14 in x 9 in; 35.56 cm x 22.86 cm