5 Dollars, Confederate States of America, 1862
date: label: Date made
content: 1862
label: date made
content: gre 1862
name: label: engraver
content: Keatinge & Ball
notes: label: Description
content: Like the fledgling United States during the American Revolution, the Confederacy struggled to keep its money in existence during the American Civil War, 1861-1865. Coinage had never been all that plentiful in the states that now made up the Southern Confederacy. It was a debtor area, with coinage flowing out for purchase of manufactured goods about as quickly as it flowed in from the sale of agricultural ones.
label: Description
content: And just as during the Revolution, a new nation lacking precious metals must issue paper money to support a war. The Confederacy was even more dependent on paper currency than had been an earlier generation of patriots. During the 85 years between 1776 and 1861, the proportion of people tied to a monetary economy had grown, even in the agricultural South.
label: Description
content: There, a bewildering variety of authorities now began to issue currency-the new central government, the Confederate States of America; the individual states; cities and towns; private banks both old and new; and even private citizens.
label: Description
content: This object tells us something about popular attitudes of the day. As with Continental and state notes in the 1770s, there was an almost superstitious aversion to allowing Confederate notes to fall to pieces. So they would be sewn together, or more frequently glued back together, reinforced with any stray bits of paper deemed fit for the job. This five-dollar bill was reinforced with part of a low-value (ten-cent) note from Mississippi. Specialists call this sort of minor currency "scrip," and it played an essential role on the lower end of the monetary scale during the early and middle phases of the war.
label: Description
content: By the way, that's Confederate Treasury Secretary C. G. Memminger peeking out from behind the fold at lower-right.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: Place Made
content: United States: Virginia, Richmond
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: National Numismatic Collection
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content: Coins
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content: Numismatics
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content: Coins, Currency and Medals
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content: Legendary Coins
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (through John W. Carlin)
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1998.0063.0043
label: catalog number
content: 1998.0063.0043
label: accession number
content: 1998.0063
label: serial number
content: 157353
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Paper Money
label: Object Name
content: note
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: paper, pink (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: ink, black (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 70 mm x 175 mm; 2 3/4 in x 6 7/8 in