Confederate $100,000 Bond

Beautiful penmanship on both pieces.

So, those notes held no cash value late in the war because their funds were appropriated for other necessities? I would think it would be virtually impossible for anyone to cash those in during the war. Talk about signing bad checks.
A piece of History,I haven't seen many of these.
 
Beautiful penmanship on both pieces.

So, those notes held no cash value late in the war because their funds were appropriated for other necessities? I would think it would be virtually impossible for anyone to cash those in during the war. Talk about signing bad checks.
During 1879, rumors started floating in England that the Federal government was going to assume the Confederate bond debt even though it was prohibited by the 14th Amendment. Transplanted ex-Confederates living in England such as Judah P. Benjamin, who was practicing law, warned that it was not going to ever happen. Paying no mind to such warnings, speculators in London began to purchase legitimate war-time issued Confederate bonds for $20 gold for every $1000 face value. Long story short... Confederate bonds from Southerners began pouring in to the bond holder committees in London and someone gained possession of un-issued Confederate bonds from the states and completed them with fictitious or forged signatures, serial numbers and dates, and sent them off to London where they sold like hotcakes. As the supply of real and forged bonds began to dry up, counterfeiters in the Netherlands began producing counterfeit versions. As we know, the United States never assumed the Confederate bond debt and once again people were burnt by purchasing Confederate bonds.
 
Even though these were people overseas, it's still amazing that so many of them would not realize this.

This bond from my collection is an completely original first issue Confederate bond when the Confederacy's capitol was in Montgomery. 7835 of these bonds were issued from 4-1-61 until 5-1-61. This is one of the non-counterfeit bonds that made its way to a London Bond Committee after the war and is stamped as such on its reverse side.

Ball Type 1 1861 Confederate Bond 2080x938.jpg


London Bond Committee Stamp reduced.jpg
 
How does one tell if they have a real bond or one of the counterfeits? Are there tell-tale signs?
The records of all bonds and currency issued by the Confederate government from day one until its end were found after the War by Raphael P. Thian who was assigned to the Adjutant General's Office during and after the War. During July 1865, the U.S. Treasury Secretary ordered the creation of the Rebel Archives Bureau with Francis Lieber and his son Lt. Colonel Norman Lieber being put in charge. Thian was assigned to the Bureau and tasked with auditing the war-time assets of the Confederate Treasury and to come up with names of persons who had contributed money or cotton to the Treasury or purchased Confederate bonds to be used as evidence of treason and aiding the rebellion. It was during Thian's audit that he uncovered the complete records of all bonds that were issued, the dates issued and the serial numbers of each bond as well as the signer of each bond. The records of all Confederate currency printed serial numbered and signed was released in book form by Thian in 1880 entitled Register of Issues of Confederate States Treasury Notes. The information on Confederate bonds did not begin to appear in book form until the 1960s when economist Dr. Douglas B. Ball (Financial Failure and Confederate Defeat, University of Illinois Press, 1991) and other experts such as Grover Criswell had access to Thian's work and other records of the Rebel Archive Bureau, as well as the Coutts Bank in London that stored all the bonds -- authentic and counterfeit -- collected by the bond committees during the early 1880s. As a result of their work, reference books are now available to the Confederate bond collectors.
 
Beautiful penmanship on both pieces.

So, those notes held no cash value late in the war because their funds were appropriated for other necessities? I would think it would be virtually impossible for anyone to cash those in during the war. Talk about signing bad checks.
Not really - I own an example of the (I believe - I'm not looking at it right now) $5,000 1864 bond with Stonewall Jackson's portrait on it; like nearly every Confederate bond I've ever seen it has the very first coupon clipped and missing. The money was paid out by redeeming the several coupons printed on the bottom as they came due, unless of course the holder wanted to wait and redeem it for the total when the entire bond matured - NOT a god idea in the case of these, and apparently everyone who owned them thought so!
 
During 1879, rumors started floating in England that the Federal government was going to assume the Confederate bond debt even though it was prohibited by the 14th Amendment. Transplanted ex-Confederates living in England such as Judah P. Benjamin, who was practicing law, warned that it was not going to ever happen. Paying no mind to such warnings, speculators in London began to purchase legitimate war-time issued Confederate bonds for $20 gold for every $1000 face value. Long story short... Confederate bonds from Southerners began pouring in to the bond holder committees in London and someone gained possession of un-issued Confederate bonds from the states and completed them with fictitious or forged signatures, serial numbers and dates, and sent them off to London where they sold like hotcakes. As the supply of real and forged bonds began to dry up, counterfeiters in the Netherlands began producing counterfeit versions. As we know, the United States never assumed the Confederate bond debt and once again people were burnt by purchasing Confederate bonds.
In about 1987 or thereabouts, a pile of these accumulated bonds was found in a safe in London and bought by a Dallas, Texas investor who advertised them in a full-page full-color ad on the inside or back cover of Civil War Times Illustrated Magazine. Since I was living at the time in Dallas, on one of my days off I went downtown to the bank or office building where their offices were located on an upper floor. They brought out a great roll of these, many different designs and colors, mainly printed on thin poor-quality paper, in several editions and many different denominations and designs. Most were offered in the $50 - $100 range and I picked out a faded pink one with a nice picture of Stonewall Jackson on it and a stamp that read Purchased in Houston, Texas across the face of the bond; as noted above, the first coupon had been clipped, which was true of the rest I saw of them. I subsequently had it framed and it hangs in my living room next to the bookcase.
 
This bond from my collection is an completely original first issue Confederate bond when the Confederacy's capitol was in Montgomery. 7835 of these bonds were issued from 4-1-61 until 5-1-61. This is one of the non-counterfeit bonds that made its way to a London Bond Committee after the war and is stamped as such on its reverse side.

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As I noted above, I'm used to seeing Confederate bonds with all the little "coupons" printed across the bottom like mine has; how was yours supposed to be redeemed - all at once upon maturity?
 
In about 1987 or thereabouts, a pile of these accumulated bonds was found in a safe in London and bought by a Dallas, Texas investor who advertised them in a full-page full-color ad on the inside or back cover of Civil War Times Illustrated Magazine. Since I was living at the time in Dallas, on one of my days off I went downtown to the bank or office building where their offices were located on an upper floor. They brought out a great roll of these, many different designs and colors, mainly printed on thin poor-quality paper, in several editions and many different denominations and designs. Most were offered in the $50 - $100 range and I picked out a faded pink one with a nice picture of Stonewall Jackson on it and a stamp that read Purchased in Houston, Texas across the face of the bond; as noted above, the first coupon had been clipped, which was true of the rest I saw of them. I subsequently had it framed and it hangs in my living room next to the bookcase.

I own one of the Netherlands' counterfeited Stonewall Jackson $1000 bonds from London's Coutts Bank that I purchased years ago knowing it was counterfeit. They even clipped the one coupon from it to make it look authentic (pictured below). The easiest giveaway on Jackson bond is that they made only one series of the bond and if it has "Second series" or "Third series" anywhere on it, it's counterfeit and you don't even have to check the serial number match to the signatures on the bond.

Counterfeit Jackson Bond.jpg
 
As I noted above, I'm used to seeing Confederate bonds with all the little "coupons" printed across the bottom like mine has; how was yours supposed to be redeemed - all at once upon maturity?
My bond pictured above originally had 4 coupons. I purchased this particular bond because of the Confederate bondholders committee stamp on the reverse side. I do own the same bond (sans committee stamp) with all the coupons attached.
 
This bond from my collection is an completely original first issue Confederate bond when the Confederacy's capitol was in Montgomery. 7835 of these bonds were issued from 4-1-61 until 5-1-61. This is one of the non-counterfeit bonds that made its way to a London Bond Committee after the war and is stamped as such on its reverse side.

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That is a great piece,I picked up mine because it was just a really interesting piece
 
Year's ago I bought several of those bonds from the Coutts stockpile. Were they all counterfeit or was it a mix of both real and counterfeit? As I recall a receipt in the form of a certificate of authenticity was given with each purchase and I still have those around,if only I could locate them. I don't recall the wording on them but what were they guaranteeing thst I purchased real bonds or real counterfeit bonds? Either way I still feel that I own "a piece of history".
 
Year's ago I bought several of those bonds from the Coutts stockpile. Were they all counterfeit or was it a mix of both real and counterfeit? As I recall a receipt in the form of a certificate of authenticity was given with each purchase and I still have those around,if only I could locate them. I don't recall the wording on them but what were they guaranteeing thst I purchased real bonds or real counterfeit bonds? Either way I still feel that I own "a piece of history".
My guess is that they certified you purchased real counterfeit bonds. :D
 
Year's ago I bought several of those bonds from the Coutts stockpile. Were they all counterfeit or was it a mix of both real and counterfeit? As I recall a receipt in the form of a certificate of authenticity was given with each purchase and I still have those around,if only I could locate them. I don't recall the wording on them but what were they guaranteeing thst I purchased real bonds or real counterfeit bonds? Either way I still feel that I own "a piece of history".
The Coutts Bank hoard had authentic issued bonds, remainder bonds that had been filled in post-war and counterfeit bonds. If you didn't have the references to check the actual bonds for authenticity then it was a crapshoot whether you received an authentic issued, or remainder that had been filled in post-war or an outright counterfeit. That is, unless the seller you purchased them from had done the homework on them before offering them for sale -- and was honest enough to let you know what you were getting.
 
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