Confederate Currency

I have always wanted to pick up a few Confederate notes but never done so as I just don't know that much about them and worry I will overpay or buy a fake. For someone who is interested in adding a couple to my collection...is now a good time to buy? With the current climate where everything Confederate is "bad" are prices down?

 

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I am not a confederate note expert at all. I have an interest because we have a handful of notes that passed down through my wife's family that ended up in my safe. They are very common notes with little intrinsic value and I love them because they were printed in the city that I live in...... I do have a good friend since retired that had the most inclusive confederate note collection I had ever seen. Talking with him over the years, confederate notes are like anything we collect. Some have great value and many do not. I do have another friend that is also my coin dealer. He does coins and his wife is a note expert. I can personally vouch for this fellow. He is as first class of a dealer as you will ever find. If you would like, I can PM his contact info if you would like.

 

I haven't seen weakness in the last couple of months of prices. I would be surprised if it happened. If you saw weakness I would buy.

The past cannot be changed by ignoring it. History cannot be erased, just suppressed. Best to acknowledge what happened, learn from it, and use that to make better decisions moving forward. I do not see how collecting currency from something that happened "glorifies" anything.

 

There are plenty of Confederate fakes out there; enough to go around. Play it safe any buy PMG or PCGS grade notes. I always wondered why a seller wants a hundred plus for a rather ordinary looking note that's not been graded. While only a fool would sell a counterfeit US note there's no law saying he can't sell you a note that's been washed and pressed. These days it's better to be safe than sorry.

 

I’m not sure about pricing but I think CSA notes are fun to put together. I personally picked the last year run of notes (1864) and decided to do a full denomination set. I didn’t want mine to sit in a safe so I decided to frame mine. It’s absolutely my favorite full collection I have put together and I am able to share it with anybody interested. It took me about 5 years to complete it with the $500 being the last note I added. There are several great sites and books that have a wealth of information just like any other series coin or paper.

 

I 100% agree with you. I was just wondering if now might be the time to pick a couple up.

 

Penna_Boy, posted: There are plenty of Confederate fakes out there; enough to go around. Play it safe any buy PMG or PCGS grade notes. I always wondered why a seller wants a hundred plus for a rather ordinary looking note that's not been graded. While only a fool would sell a counterfeit US note there's no law saying he can't sell you a note that's been washed and pressed. These days it's better to be safe than sorry."

I've been collecting CSA notes on and off for 50 years. I think your post is nonsense! Perhaps you think the very crude souvenir replicas would fool a numismatist such as yourself and others.

A very nice set of common, mid-grade, GENUINE CSA notes can be assembled very cheaply.

PS PB, I am very curious to see a few of these fake notes that you claim are all around. In my limited experience, any decent contemporary CSA fake note is very collectable. Some are even stamped "Counterfeit."

 

There are some interesting monetary lessons to be learned from collecting Confederate currency that have nothing to do with taboo subjects. Money supply issues, currency designs and anti-counterfeiting issues are important.

The 1864 series of notes are the most common with the $5, $10 and $20 notes leading the way. If they are in decent condition, they are far from worthless, but nice looking 1864 notes are quite affordable. The expensive one is the $500 note because it is attractive and has Stonewall Jackson on it.

I have been wanting to post a review of the 1863 series notes which are quite interesting. I will try to get it up in the paper money area this afternoon.

 

I have seen quite a few on line from reputable dealers that are very reasonably priced (under $40 for a nice circulated note).

 

Just don’t collect statues or military forts and you ought to be OK for now.

 

This is something I would like to learn about. Do you have any references you recommend?

 

Here is an "red" example of the 1864 Conderate $500 note. By this time the printers were running short of red ink. Sometimes they added water to it which resulted in "pink" notes. Some collectors do try to buy these notes in the various colors.

This note is one-sided. The Confederates had inteneded put on a back on this note, but the plates were on a blockade-runner (ship) that was captured.

 

The Internet is your friend:

From NGC ...

Confederate and State Currency — referenced to Friedberg, Confederate and Southern States Currency by Grover Criswell, Collecting Confederate Paper Money by Pierre Fricke, Southern States Currency by Hugh Shull, A Guide Book of Counterfeit Confederate Currency by George Tremmel and Comprehensive Catalog and History of Confederate Bonds by Douglas B. Ball, Ph.D.

I don't own the books in red.

 

Thank you. There are so many books out there sometimes it's hard to know which are worth buying and which are trash. lol.

 

In my opinion, Collecting Confederate Paper Money by Pierre Fricke is the best one. He is a dealer who knows the market, and he is willing to cut through the certified grading thicket. The 2014 edition is the latest one. He has talked about doing an update, but that is still in the works.

 

OK. Thank you for the information.

 

Did someone say frame Confederate notes?

 

I collect CSA Notes. I'm not an expert by any means. The market for these is as strong as I've ever seen. And yes, they do fake these. I think the market has gotten stronger as the attempts to remove statues and rewrite history have grown. Don't confuse what is happening today with the coin market. They are entirely different. My comments are not meant to be political in any way. They are meant to help the OP make a decision on his collection.

 

Your right, on most notes I was looking at on the bay most had over 50 bids !
wildly popular

 

The same goes for auctions. People are paying over top prices for some items, not just CSA Notes.