$245.00
Year: 1862
Denomination: $100
S/N 35390A
This 1862 $100 Confederate States of America (CSA) T40 banknote is an interest bearing note issued Richmond, Virginia on August 18, 1862. A bearer note, it paid two cents per day and was payable on demand "Six Months after the Ratification of a treaty of Peace the Confederate States and United States". For reference, two cents per day interest on the $100 works out to 7.3%.
Unlike various US Revolutionary War-era Continental notes which were generally honored with interest by the Treasury Department, none of the CSA debts, loans, or interest were honored under the post-Civil War Reconstruction Era and financial speculators hoping for a similar payout found themselves holding worthless paper not backed by any specie or accepted in commerce.
The reverse endorsement under the initials "J.M." indicate this was reissued "Feby. 4, 1863" at Houston (Texas), reflecting this banknote spent time in the Trans-Mississippi Department of the CSA. There is a second stamp reflecting interest paid up to 1 January 1864 and a third stamp (boxed) showing the final January 1865 interest payment was made at Columbia, South Carolina. Seen with some edge stains and hinge glue remnants; Grade: Fine
We can only imagine the journey this witness to history made in its documented travels from is origins, to Houston, Texas and then to Columbia, South Carolina. Knowing these dates and locations one can look at the contemporary map of the CSA and progressing war situation to speculate on the different paths it may have taken during its two and a half years of travel until January 1865.
