Here’s what seems like a silly question to ask. Was Confederate money real or fake? Surely a currency that can be traded among people for goods and services is real, but the unique circumstances of the era proved to suggest otherwise.
When the confederate states of America seceded from the Union they required, among other things, a new currency. They introduced the Confederate dollar two months after seceding in April, 1861 just prior to the outbreak of the civil war. At the beginning of it’s introduction it was widely accepted throughout the South as currency. But the Confederate dollar was not real money. The separatists even went as far to say so on their own money.
The reason the Confederate money was fake and not real money is because it had no hard assets to back it up, such as gold and silver. They had cotton, lots and lots of cotton, and slaves, but apart from the South, who wanted slaves? In lue of real assets, the money was an “I owe you” from the separatist government. The money was inscribed with “TWO YEARS AFTER THE RATIFICATION OF A TREATY OF PEACE BETWEEN THE CONFEDERATE STATES AND THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA”, then across the middle “CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA WILL PAY” (the value of the money) “TO BEARER”. However, as the war progressed and it was becoming obvious that the Confederacy was going to lose the war, the value of this IOU became worthless. It was so worthless in fact that a bar of soap could cost as much as $50. When the war ended it became totally worthless.
Despite Confederate money being fake and not real hard cash, and the value of it plummeting as the war progressed, there are still some turning up from time to time. However, about 97 percent of all currency that turns up is fake, which only leaves three percent being genuine articles. The disappointing thing about the genuine real pieces of money are that they aren’t worth very much at all. They are really only of a little historical value. I dare say though, as time progresses, and fewer of these Civil War relics remain, the value of the remaining stocks will rise. To what no one knows.
Here’s what seems like a silly question to ask. Was Confederate money real or fake? Surely a currency that can be traded among people for goods and services is real, but the unique circumstances of the era proved to suggest otherwise.
