Civil War Money: Tokens, Scrip, and the Economics of Conflict
War changes everything, including the money in your pocket.
When the American Civil War broke out in 1861, uncertainty gripped the nation.
Fearful of the future, citizens in both the North and the South immediately began hoarding gold and silver coins. As the war dragged on, even the copper penny disappeared from circulation, melted down for its metal value or hidden away in jars.
By 1862, the United States faced a bizarre crisis: standard commerce had ground to a halt because there was no small change to buy a loaf of bread or a newspaper.
Necessity, as they say, is the mother of invention. What followed was one of the most chaotic and creative periods in American numismatic history. The government, private merchants, and the rebellion itself all issued their own forms of “emergency money.”
For collectors today, these artifacts—Civil War tokens, fractional currency, and Confederate notes—offer a tangible connection to the country’s darkest and most pivotal era.
Civil War Tokens: The People’s Money
When the government couldn’t provide pennies, private merchants took matters into their own hands. Private die-sinkers began minting copper tokens, roughly the size of a standard Indian Head Cent, to facilitate trade.
These tokens, known today as Civil War Tokens, generally fall into two categories:
1. Store Cards
These were essentially advertisements you could spend. A grocer, a saloon, or a pharmacist would mint tokens with their name and address on one side, and a generic symbol (like an eagle or an Indian head) on the other. They circulated locally as one cent. For collectors, these are fascinating because you can often find tokens from your own hometown or specific historical businesses.
2. Patriotic Tokens
These didn’t advertise a specific business. Instead, they carried political slogans meant to rally the public.
- Union Slogans: “The Union Must and Shall Be Preserved,” or “Army & Navy.”
- The Famous “Dix” Token: One of the most famous tokens bears the phrase “Shoot him on the spot,” a quote from General John Dix regarding anyone who attempted to tear down the American flag.
Because these were minted privately and often in small batches, there are thousands of varieties to collect, many of which are surprisingly affordable.
Fractional Currency: The “Shinplasters”
While merchants were minting copper, the Federal Government was trying to solve the coin shortage with paper.
General Francis Spinner, the Treasurer of the United States, supposedly suggested using postage stamps as currency. It worked, but sticking dirty, fragile stamps to paper was messy. The government eventually printed miniature banknotes, officially called Fractional Currency.
These tiny bills came in denominations of 3, 5, 10, 15, 25, and 50 cents.
The public hated them. They were small, flimsy, and easily lost. They earned the derisive nickname “Shinplasters” (implying they were only good for using as bandages on a sore leg). However, for modern collectors, they are beautiful miniature works of art, featuring portraits of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and even Spinner himself.
Confederate Currency: The Inflationary Spiral
South of the Mason-Dixon line, the monetary situation was even more desperate. The Confederacy had no access to gold or silver mines and was under a naval blockade. To finance the war, they printed paper money—oceans of it.
Confederate “Greybacks” are famous for their beautiful but often crude designs, featuring scenes of cotton picking, steamships, and portraits of Southern leaders like Jefferson Davis and Stonewall Jackson.
The story of Confederate money is a story of hyperinflation.
- 1861: A Confederate dollar was worth about 90 cents in gold.
- 1863: It dropped to 20 cents.
- 1865: By the end of the war, it took $1,200 in Confederate paper to buy $1 in gold. The money was literally worth more as scrap paper than as currency.
Collecting Confederate notes is a study in printing variations. Because the South ran out of high-quality paper and ink, you can find notes printed on the back of old bank checks or even wallpaper.
Encased Postage: The Weirdest Solution
Perhaps the strangest invention of the war was Encased Postage.
Entrepreneur John Gault patented a method of taking a standard unused postage stamp and encasing it in a round brass frame with a clear mica window (a mineral that acts like glass). The back of the brass case often featured an advertisement for a department store or a patent medicine.
These functioned like coins but carried the government-backed value of the stamp inside. Today, they are rare and highly prized by collectors of “Exonumia” (numismatic items other than government coins).
Collecting the Conflict
Civil War numismatics is a bridge between history and hobby. You aren’t just collecting a date and a mint mark; you are collecting a specific response to a specific crisis.
A Civil War Token represents a merchant trying to keep his shop open. A Fractional note represents a government trying to maintain order. A Confederate bill represents a failed rebellion’s economic collapse.
Owning these pieces allows you to hold the economic reality of the Civil War in the palm of your hand.
Do You Have a Piece of the War?
Civil War tokens and currency are often found in old family collections, unrecognized by modern eyes. A small copper coin with a merchant’s name, or a tiny piece of paper worth “10 Cents,” could be a valuable historical artifact.
