Collecting Confederate Coins, Currency, and Memorabilia

At the time of the gold rush of the 1830s in the southeastern United States, the state of Georgia, and also North Carolina during this time were hot beds in the center of the southern gold rush. During this time the Congress of the United States passed a Treasury Department bill in 1835 creating many new branch mints in the southeast one at New Orleans, Louisiana; the second one at Charlotte, North Carolina; and the third was at Dahlonega, Georgia. When these states seceded to join the Confederacy in 1861, these three branch mints were turned over the Confederacy. All three were well supplied at the time of secession with large amount of gold and silver bullion to meet the new nation needs at that time.

Many remarkable Confederate States coins were produced under the three branch mints in Confederate control: The Confederate half dollars, countless one cents, and the well-known double eagles and twenty dollar CSA gold coins from New Orleans, Confederate gold dollars and very nice half eagles were also produced at Dahlonega, and more golden half eagles, and Confederate States silver fifty cents coins came from Charlotte.

In early April, in the year 1861 the Confederate States of America Secretary of the Treasury Christopher Memminger ordered that the designs for the new CSA half dollars be submitted for approval for the new nations coinage. Because the United States dies in the New Orleans Mint could not be fitted to hold the regular coining press it was necessary to use the tried and true old hand screw press which only four coins could be pressed at a time. With the increased pressure from the blockade from the Union Ships the order came from the secretary of the Confederacy to suspending operations on account of not being able to obtaining enough bullion to meet the demands of the three mints.

Not many folks know that for a period of about four years the Confederate States of America printed their own currency, and for roughly two years they made their own coins. Many northern publications do not agree with this coinage fact. But for many of us in the south who have metal detectors the number of Confederate penny’s and other CSA coins found in different locations confirm that this was a fact and not fiction. A number of southern printing establishments were involved in the printing and distributing of paper Confederate currency and bonds to the new government and southern banks. The Confederate coinage was first run by the captured mints, but soon with the crushing need for coins to keep the economy lubricated and active token companies started the contribute to the needs of the Confederate government, with one cent, fifty cents, and 20-dollar gold pieces to name a few.

Many of the coins that were manufactured by the Confederate States of America were confiscated and destroyed after the occupation of the south by the victorious Union troops. The only currency and coinage that was saved was the ones that were hidden out of site by people who wanted to keep a souvenir of the conquered nation. Many small hordes of coins and currency were hidden in attics, walls, and root cellars in the remaining homes of the vanquished south.

When I moved into my Great-grandfathers home in Centerville Tennessee and started doing some remodeling, I was amazed at all the Confederate currency and coins in the attic and cubbyholes. Doing some research I discovered that this area was a major commerce center for exchanging currency and banking back before and during the Civil War and afterwards things were very different. I was very intrigued at all the amazing designs, and companies involved in the manufacturing of the currency of the Confederacy. It is a very fun hobby and you can learn a lot about the people, and the times of this tragic time in our nations history.

It took a great deal of work to create the new coinage for the newly formed Confederate States of America. Two preliminary seals for the front of most coins were a side profile of the Southern version of Lady Liberty, the other was a full frontal view of Lady Liberty surrounded by all the bountiful crops of the southern agricultural society. For the fifty cent coin was proposed for the front of the coin a depiction of a Confederate soldier with his bayonet in the foreground, the artist wanted a woman, child, church, and the Smokey Mountains in the background underneath bright and rising shining sun. This coin back like the others would be surrounded by a wreath consisting of four major crops of the Confederate States, being rice, cotton, sugar cane, and of-course tobacco.

In 1861, the eleven southern states seceded from the Union know as the United States and formed the Confederate States of America. In order to finance the new government, and protect the newly created nation know as the CSA from evasion from the northern states known as the Union, the Confederate States of America newly created Treasury Department issued many new banknotes, commonly referred to as "pink notes" due to their soft pinkish red colors in denominations ranging from 50 cents to $1000. As the Civil War intensified, and the war with the Union drained the Treasury of the CSA, the Confederate government continued to produce in larger numbers of CSA banknotes, which led to high inflation rates, and a loss of confidence in the Confederate States of America currency.

The President of the Confederate States Jefferson Davis formed his first cabinet in 1861, and the remarkable Christopher Memminger was selected as the Confederate States Secretary of the Treasury in the month of February on the 21th day of the year 1861. This was a huge and very difficult task for Christopher, with the staggering civilian and military needs for coinage and cash to finance the Confederacy in time of war. Christopher worked very hard to finance the Confederate government at first with bonds and tariffs. He also had the government confiscation silver and gold from the United States Mint in New Orleans to start his ambitious coining projects.

Public opinion has had a change recently in the views for General Robert E. Lee. But just about 60 years ago President Dwight D. Eisenhower kept a portrait of Robert E. Lee in his executive office in the White House during his time as president of the United States. In many southern homes for generations after the Civil War there would be a bust or a small statue of General Lee in a place of honor in the living room or entry hall. Another admirer of General Lee was Winston Churchill who extolled Robert E. Lee as one of the greatest American that ever lived. Even the noble General Ulysses S. Grant threatened to resign during the dark days of the Civil War from the U.S. Army, if Robert E. Lee was ever tried for treason.