Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 31.djvu/153

 Confederate Currency. 145

This may be looked on as the last regular battle of the Army of Northern Virginia, and in it the Confederates, although at the point of physical exhaustion, conducted themselves in a manner that would have reflected honor on any troops on any former field.

[From the Charlotte Observer, June, 1903.]

CONFEDERATE CURRENCY.

Valuable Information Concerning the Notes Issued. THE BEST COLLECTION.

North Carolina Has It, Including All Rare Specimens Where and

How the Printing was Done Anecdotes and

Reminiscences.

This State owns a complete collection of Confederate money, which is arranged according to date of issue and framed, and which attracts a great deal of attention, some of the bills being of great beauty and extremely scarce. In fact the first issue of bills has for more than thirty years been held at h;gh figures. A number of counterfeits of Confederate money of the rarer varieties have been made. The first issue has been counterfeited at least twice.

The first issue was engraved by the National Bank Note Com- pany, of New York, and embraces four bills, these being all dated at Montgomery, Ala., which was the first seat of government. The dates are in all cases written with ink and not printed, and all four bills are interest-bearing. The issues are of the value of $50, $100, $500, and $1,000, and the total amount was not very great. The government, upon removal to Richmond, called in these bills and destroyed or cancelled nearly all of them. The $50 may be taken as an example of all. The engraving is extremely handsome. The picture is that of three negroes at work on the farm, two with hoes, another with a basket, the background being a Southern mansion. The bill is payable twelve months after date, and the inscription says: 14 The Confederate States of America will pay to bearer fifty dollars, with interest at half a cent a day." The date of this bill is May n,