Hi. This website
is useful to check against the known list of fake serial #s. I had another website that provided advice on how to judge but I can't seem to find it.
Hard to judge based on the single picture you provided. Need close-ups (please post). A key indicator is whether you have rusty ink bleedthroughs….if yes, it is likely real, since the notes were all hand-signed, including the serial numbers. Also, each note was handcut with scissors, so the edges should not be straight...if it looks like your 7 year old kid cut the note out of a sheet of paper, then that's what you want to see. Sorry, I am no expert, but those were a few of the tips I learned.
In my non-expert opinioin, the printed serial # looks suspicious, the edges of the note are very straight, and I see no rusty blisters of ink in the signature (the blisters/bleedthroughs occur as a result of the ink ageing)
How To Identify Counterfeit Confederate Money A sad reality about Confederate money is that 97% of what is out there is fake. The 3% that is authentic usually
oldcurrencyvalues.com
The above website also lists examples to compare with. Good luck and let us know how it goes!
Edit: Description:
This $50 Confederate note has a picture of Jefferson Davis in the center. This note was printed with black ink and a pick overprint on the front and with blue ink on the back.
This one is real supposedly and it has machine printed serial #s, so perhaps only some series had hand-printed serial numbers (like I said, I am no expert):
There are lots of examples on the Internet to compare to.
The crazy thing is is that if you have a counterfeit that was made during the Civil War era, it's worth more to a collector today than the original government issued note....go figure!!!