CW Token Collector
Private
- Joined
- Oct 8, 2021
The trans-Mississippi area was important the survival of the Confederate States of America. It covered all of Texas, Arkansas, the Indian Territory and most of Louisiana. It was important because it provided the Confederacy with manpower, raw materials and access to Mexico without having to go over water, which was subject the Union blockade.
The Union realized this. One of its goals was to take control of the Mississippi River which cut the Confederacy in two. That was accomplished in 1862. When General Kirby Smith took of that department on March 7, 1863, he noted that there was a serious shortage of cash in the area to pay the Confederate Government's debts. The situation was made worse when the Confederate Congress passed a law on March 23, 1863 that rendered the notes issued previously subject to redemption and obsolescence.
Smith ordered that some old notes, that were available to him, be re-issued with special stamp. There are several varieties of these stamped which "revalidated" these old notes. Here is one of them. The special stamp is in the circle. The "host note" is a variety number, T-26
Here is a normal T-26 note.
This idea failed when the Confederate Congress passed a bill that placed a tax on the old notes, which rendered them totally useless. Smith that started issuing interim deposit receipts (IDRs) which indicated that the bearer was entitled to full payments in new money, whenever that arrived in the area. Since my collecting is limited to the Confederate paper money, I don't have an example of an IDR.
The Union realized this. One of its goals was to take control of the Mississippi River which cut the Confederacy in two. That was accomplished in 1862. When General Kirby Smith took of that department on March 7, 1863, he noted that there was a serious shortage of cash in the area to pay the Confederate Government's debts. The situation was made worse when the Confederate Congress passed a law on March 23, 1863 that rendered the notes issued previously subject to redemption and obsolescence.
Smith ordered that some old notes, that were available to him, be re-issued with special stamp. There are several varieties of these stamped which "revalidated" these old notes. Here is one of them. The special stamp is in the circle. The "host note" is a variety number, T-26
Here is a normal T-26 note.
This idea failed when the Confederate Congress passed a bill that placed a tax on the old notes, which rendered them totally useless. Smith that started issuing interim deposit receipts (IDRs) which indicated that the bearer was entitled to full payments in new money, whenever that arrived in the area. Since my collecting is limited to the Confederate paper money, I don't have an example of an IDR.