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The Exchange Bank: Richmond, 1865
The
Confederate treasury could probably have raised more gold and silver from the
population if it had embarked on a vigorous policy of taxation rather than
trying to finance the war through the issuance of bonds. The Confederate
treasury indulged, ultimately, in the perilous device of issuing unsupported
paper money. In 1861 the treasury issued $100 million in paper Confederate
notes and $100 million in 8 percent Confederate bonds. By 1863 the treasury was
pumping out $50 million in notes a month. The Confederate public sensed that
there was too much money being issued and that it was becoming progressively
more worthless. Wits were soon saying, "An oak leaf will be worth just as
much as the promise of the Confederate treasury to pay one dollar."
To increase its hard cash reserves, before loosing the flood of paper money on the country, the Confederate Congress made U.S. silver coins legal tender up to $10, and gave full standing, with fixed values stipulated, to English sovereigns, French Napoleons and Spanish and Mexican doubloons. This helped somewhat, and a small treasury shipment in 1862, for example, was made up of the following coins: 28 Spanish dollars, 24 Spanish quarter dollars, 8 Spanish half dollars, 8 English sovereigns, 3 Napoleons, 385 U.S. half dollars and 988 U.S. quarter dollars.
No halfway measures, however, could make up for the mismatch between revenue and the issuance of currency. Many people hoarded their hard money. Less than a month before the final collapse of the government, the Confederate Congress, seeming to believe that there was an abundance of hard money in private hands, passed a law trying to raise $30 million in gold and silver. Other estimates indicate that there may have been $20 million in U.S. coins remaining in the pockets of Confederate civilians. These coins were hoarded and did not come out except in rare instances. A Richmond editor in 1864 wondered why more copper and nickel coins did not make their appearance, "There must be any quantity of them stored away", he observed.
To increase its hard cash reserves, before loosing the flood of paper money on the country, the Confederate Congress made U.S. silver coins legal tender up to $10, and gave full standing, with fixed values stipulated, to English sovereigns, French Napoleons and Spanish and Mexican doubloons. This helped somewhat, and a small treasury shipment in 1862, for example, was made up of the following coins: 28 Spanish dollars, 24 Spanish quarter dollars, 8 Spanish half dollars, 8 English sovereigns, 3 Napoleons, 385 U.S. half dollars and 988 U.S. quarter dollars.
No halfway measures, however, could make up for the mismatch between revenue and the issuance of currency. Many people hoarded their hard money. Less than a month before the final collapse of the government, the Confederate Congress, seeming to believe that there was an abundance of hard money in private hands, passed a law trying to raise $30 million in gold and silver. Other estimates indicate that there may have been $20 million in U.S. coins remaining in the pockets of Confederate civilians. These coins were hoarded and did not come out except in rare instances. A Richmond editor in 1864 wondered why more copper and nickel coins did not make their appearance, "There must be any quantity of them stored away", he observed.
Cemeteries have been called
open-air museums, and every gravestone has a story to tell. This book is a
presentation of the Civil War history of Northern Virginia through the medium
of cemeteries.
A brief look at humor in the Civil War including: (1) Stories Around the
Campfire, (2) Parody, (3) the Irish, (4) Humorous Incidents, (5) Civil War
Humorists, and (6) Lincoln.
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