Aug 21, 1862 : Treasury releases fractional currency As the economy took a beating from the Civil War, the Treasury Department sprung into action by releasing fractional currency, alternately known as postage currency. The new 5, 10, 25, and 50-cent notes hit the streets on this day.
Authorized by President Abraham Lincoln on July 17, 1862, the notes (called "shinplasters") were used to buy postage stamps and were used as money. Customers and merchants thronged to post offices to buy stamps to use as money when gold, silver, and copper coins all but disappeared just before the Civil War. Daily stamps sales at the New York City post office jumped from $3,000 to a whopping $20,000. Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase suggested the fractional currency idea to Lincoln. Rather than issue more stamps to cover the huge demand for exchange notes, the government printed the fractional notes, which were, in fact, federal promissory notes. The fractional notes were controversial, but Congress legalized them on March 3, 1863, including Lincoln's "illegal" earlier notes. Five issues of fractional currency were printed, with the first dated August 21, 1862 and the last dated February 26, 1874. The first notes carried the imprint "postage currency" and later issues were called "fractional currency." Some of you may be old enough to remember seeing ads that stated "we do not accept postage stamps." For many years some merchants continued to accept postage stamps until the government discontinued the fractional currency and took the remaining fractional units out of circulation; however, the notion of using stamps as money was by then deeply ingrained as a habit. By the way, shinplasters were small -- about half the size of a regular paper dollar bill.
Great pictures!!! I am not sure how to do it but I am going to ask pat to organize them into a more permanent album. That way when you find more images you can just post to that album.
What should the album be called” Confederate Notes" money?????
