The incredible volume of counterfeit confederate notes produced by northern printing operations throughout the Civil War is staggering. Counterfeit money was unleashed on the Confederate States of America (CSA), chiefly by individuals who wanted to profit by exploiting the newness of the southern currency. CSA Department Of The Treasury Secretary C.G. Memminger was forewarned by southern bankers not to use a range of non-standardized designs for notes of the same denomination.
But the Treasury's rush in implementing a new monetary system, and the massive amount of low quality notes invited public confusion concerning the identification of the new money - one which would be swiftly taken advantage of by counterfeiters. As forecasted by the bankers, many bogus notes started circulating in the south as early on as the spring of 1862, virtually forcing the rebel government to recall and exchange an early series of notes altogether, replacing them with a new series and producing even more uncertainty among the general population. The replacement notes, which like essentially all that followed, would be widely counterfeited.
In the springtime of 1863, 10,000 blank $20 CSA notes were thieved from an authorized CSA printing company in Columbia, South Carolina, releasing a torrent of legitimate cash upon the public - other than with forged dates and forged signatures. Even Jefferson Davis' household slave was arrested for stealing blank Treasury bills from the customs house, then signing, dating and passing the notes to unsuspecting merchants prior to being caught.
A number of Northern counterfeiters, like Samuel Upham of Philadelphia, started off by producing facsimiles of CSA issues for sale as "mementos" of the southern rebellion. The souvenir notes were sold for only pennies on the dollar and were of such high quality that Upham's operation soon evolved into the manufacture and sale of tens of thousands of notes representing millions of dollars of face value.
A majority of these notes had their facsimile edge lettering removed, finding their way into general circulation via Union troops which freely spent the counterfeit cash with unsuspecting merchants in the south. As the conflict progressed, Upham subsequently adapted his printing prowess to suit the desires of counterfeit passers by providing high quality bogus bills which could later have signatures as well as serial numbers added.
Another counterfeiter, Winthrop E. Hilton of New York City, openly advertised his counterfeit notes for sale in newspapers, stating "So exactly like the genuine that one will pass current, the other will go equally well". The U.S. Government turned a blind eye to these operations, because they did not acknowledge the Confederate States as a legitimate government. To the enjoyment of Confederate authorities, Hilton was later arrested and his operation terminated by federal agents when he purportedly changed his counterfeiting efforts to replicate the U.S. currency.
One of the most destructive methods with which bogus cash entered the south were from organized gangs which acquired their notes through the northern printers as well as clandestine operators in St. Louis, Missouri and Nauvoo, Illinois. By the the summer months of 1862, these assorted printers had produced a high quality product from masterfully engraved plates which were virtually indistinguishable from legitimate notes. These individuals frequently posed as purchasers for the Confederate military, convincing notable southerners the government's CSA funds would not be accepted in the border states of Kentucky and Missouri, and an exchange could be had on favorable terms to them to exchange hard assets, including legitimate bank notes, gold, silver and diamonds - which would then be taken to the border states to purchase thousands of head of cattle on behalf of the government expected to supply the embattled Confederate troops.
It's estimated that as much as $36 million in counterfeit notes circulated during the war. Of these, there were 221 distinct varieties of bogus confederate notes, 61 different low denomination issues, 11 "fantasy notes"- printed with the markings of legitimate CSA issues and which circulated in the south as part of a pervasive northern scam.
But the Treasury's rush in implementing a new monetary system, and the massive amount of low quality notes invited public confusion concerning the identification of the new money - one which would be swiftly taken advantage of by counterfeiters. As forecasted by the bankers, many bogus notes started circulating in the south as early on as the spring of 1862, virtually forcing the rebel government to recall and exchange an early series of notes altogether, replacing them with a new series and producing even more uncertainty among the general population. The replacement notes, which like essentially all that followed, would be widely counterfeited.
In the springtime of 1863, 10,000 blank $20 CSA notes were thieved from an authorized CSA printing company in Columbia, South Carolina, releasing a torrent of legitimate cash upon the public - other than with forged dates and forged signatures. Even Jefferson Davis' household slave was arrested for stealing blank Treasury bills from the customs house, then signing, dating and passing the notes to unsuspecting merchants prior to being caught.
A number of Northern counterfeiters, like Samuel Upham of Philadelphia, started off by producing facsimiles of CSA issues for sale as "mementos" of the southern rebellion. The souvenir notes were sold for only pennies on the dollar and were of such high quality that Upham's operation soon evolved into the manufacture and sale of tens of thousands of notes representing millions of dollars of face value.
A majority of these notes had their facsimile edge lettering removed, finding their way into general circulation via Union troops which freely spent the counterfeit cash with unsuspecting merchants in the south. As the conflict progressed, Upham subsequently adapted his printing prowess to suit the desires of counterfeit passers by providing high quality bogus bills which could later have signatures as well as serial numbers added.
Another counterfeiter, Winthrop E. Hilton of New York City, openly advertised his counterfeit notes for sale in newspapers, stating "So exactly like the genuine that one will pass current, the other will go equally well". The U.S. Government turned a blind eye to these operations, because they did not acknowledge the Confederate States as a legitimate government. To the enjoyment of Confederate authorities, Hilton was later arrested and his operation terminated by federal agents when he purportedly changed his counterfeiting efforts to replicate the U.S. currency.
One of the most destructive methods with which bogus cash entered the south were from organized gangs which acquired their notes through the northern printers as well as clandestine operators in St. Louis, Missouri and Nauvoo, Illinois. By the the summer months of 1862, these assorted printers had produced a high quality product from masterfully engraved plates which were virtually indistinguishable from legitimate notes. These individuals frequently posed as purchasers for the Confederate military, convincing notable southerners the government's CSA funds would not be accepted in the border states of Kentucky and Missouri, and an exchange could be had on favorable terms to them to exchange hard assets, including legitimate bank notes, gold, silver and diamonds - which would then be taken to the border states to purchase thousands of head of cattle on behalf of the government expected to supply the embattled Confederate troops.
It's estimated that as much as $36 million in counterfeit notes circulated during the war. Of these, there were 221 distinct varieties of bogus confederate notes, 61 different low denomination issues, 11 "fantasy notes"- printed with the markings of legitimate CSA issues and which circulated in the south as part of a pervasive northern scam.