This listing is for the photographed 1861 Confederate States of America $5.00 counterfeit paper banknote. This note can be identified as a counterfeit by the crudely printed vignettes and their thick lines. The "Southern Bank Note Company" printed in the bottom left border is also printed unevenly and much differently from the original. The center vignette is of an allegorical Agriculture, Commerce, Industry, Justice and Liberty seated around the number "5." The left end vignette depicts Navigation, and the right end depicts the statue of George Washington that is displayed at the Massachusetts State House. Counterfeits of this note are a rarer find, as the original is also a very rare note type. This note is heavily worn. T.31/CS.31.
Confederate Treasury Notes (banknotes) were ultimately issued in 50¢, $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100, $500 and $1,000 denominations with a variety of designs, issuers and redeemable obligations. The amount of currency issued under the various acts of the Confederate Congress totaled $1.7 billion. Bills were released in 72 different note "types" in seven "series" from 1861 through 1864.
Since there were many types of Confederate notes as well as notes issued by the states of the Confederacy, and since banks could issue their own notes, counterfeiting was a major problem for the Confederacy. The Confederacy's paper currency was also printed in varying conditions and qualities, which was heavily taken advantage of by counterfeiters. Many of these contemporary counterfeits are identifiable today and they can be as valuable to a collector as a real note. The printers who counterfeited this note used the woodcut printing technique, which results in the flat, worse quality design with thicker lines and less detailing. This note also has the Register's and Treasurer's signatures printed, but the serial number is left blank, which could indicate that this note was never issued and used as valid currency.
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1861 Confederate States of America 5 Dollar Note - Contemporary Counterfeit - 1861 Counterfeit Confederate Five Dollar Bill 1861 - T31/CS31