Currency Counterfeit Bills

Stiles/Akin

Sergeant Major
Joined
Apr 1, 2016
Location
Atlanta, Georgia
The Confederate union. (Milledgeville, Ga.) 1862-1865, December 16, 1862, Image 4

Counterfeit Bills. This is article about Counterfeits money but it may offer a better description about the money itself.
The Confederate union. (Milledgeville, Ga.) 1862-1865, December 16, 1862, Image 4.png
 
The Confederate union. (Milledgeville, Ga.) 1862-1865, December 16, 1862, Image 4

Counterfeit Bills. This is article about Counterfeits money but it may offer a better description about the money itself.
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The best known counterfeiter of Confederate notes during the War was Samuel Upham, a Philadelphia businessman who started out by producing stationary depicting Jefferson Davis's head resembling a jackass. The success of that venture led him to producing counterfeit notes and CSA postage stamps in early 1862 which he sold for 5 cents each or $15 per 1000. Upham's earliest notes had his name and address on the very bottom edge of the notes. Upham soon found out that a number of people were cutting off the name and address on his notes and that they were being used in the South to buy cotton. He felt he ought to share in some of the profits so in late 1862, Upham began printing the notes without his name and address and raised the price of his notes. Towards the end of the War when Confederate currency was practically worthless, Upham was offering $20,000 in counterfeit CSA notes for only $5. Years after the war ended, Upham claimed that he had printed 1,564,000 bogus notes between 1862 and 1863. He also boasted that Jefferson Davis had offered a reward in gold for his body, dead or alive. Today many of his contemporary counterfeit notes are worth as much or more than their real counterparts.
 
The best known counterfeiter of Confederate notes during the War was Samuel Upham, a Philadelphia businessman who started out by producing stationary depicting Jefferson Davis's head resembling a jackass. The success of that venture led him to producing counterfeit notes and CSA postage stamps in early 1862 which he sold for 5 cents each or $15 per 1000. Upham's earliest notes had his name and address on the very bottom edge of the notes. Upham soon found out that a number of people were cutting off the name and address on his notes and that they were being used in the South to buy cotton. He felt he ought to share in some of the profits so in late 1862, Upham began printing the notes without his name and address and raised the price of his notes. Towards the end of the War when Confederate currency was practically worthless, Upham was offering $20,000 in counterfeit CSA notes for only $5. Years after the war ended, Upham claimed that he had printed 1,564,000 bogus notes between 1862 and 1863. He also boasted that Jefferson Davis had offered a reward in gold for his body, dead or alive. Today many of his contemporary counterfeit notes are worth as much or more than their real counterparts.
Upham's depiction of Jefferson Davis.
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I found this Newspaper article concerning Counterfeit Confederate bills in possession by the Yankees.

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The weekly sun. (Columbus, Ga.) January 20, 1863, Image 3

I'm curious what crime a belligerent who was captured in uniform with counterfeit currency of the belligerent's government who captured him, can be put to death for?
 
The book that I have about Confederate Currency has a section about counterfeit bills then another chapter about facsimile notes.I would think the counterfeit notes would be a more collectable item. Afterall the counterfeits were deliberately pasted off as the real thing, while the facsimiles were not. One is a piece of history.
 
The book that I have about Confederate Currency has a section about counterfeit bills then another chapter about facsimile notes.I would think the counterfeit notes would be a more collectable item. Afterall the counterfeits were deliberately pasted off as the real thing, while the facsimiles were not. One is a piece of history.

Facsimiles -- other than the 1954 Cheerios copies with album-- have no collector value while contemporary counterfeits are very collectable and in some cases, worth as much if not more than the real note that was being counterfeited.
 
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