{"product_id":"confederate-states-of-america-500-bond-1863","title":"Confederate States of America — $500 Bond from 1863 with Christopher G. Memminger","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eThis is an original $500 bond issued by the Confederate States of America in 1863, one of 56,417 authorized under the Act of February 20, 1863, and one of the few that still survives. The certificate is printed in olive green ink by B. Duncan of Richmond, and bears the portrait of Christopher G. Memminger, Secretary of the Confederate Treasury, shown in formal attire. \u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eYou will receive the exact piece shown.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe certificate is printed in black ink by B. Duncan of Richmond, and bears the portrait of\u003cstrong\u003e Christopher G. Memminger,\u003c\/strong\u003e Secretary of the Confederate Treasury, shown in formal attire. The elaborate engraved border carries decorative corner rosettes containing the denomination \"500.\" Four coupons remain attached, unclipped, meaning the bond's interest was never collected.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCatalog references:\u003c\/strong\u003e Criswell 124 · Ball 192 \u003cstrong\u003eAct:\u003c\/strong\u003e February 20, 1863 \u003cstrong\u003eDenomination:\u003c\/strong\u003e $500 \u003cstrong\u003eInterest rate:\u003c\/strong\u003e 7% per annum \u003cstrong\u003ePrinter:\u003c\/strong\u003e B. Duncan, Richmond, VA \u003cstrong\u003eCoupons:\u003c\/strong\u003e 4 attached, unclipped \u003cstrong\u003eCondition notes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Age-toned; wear consistent with period paper\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn February 1863, the Confederate Congress had already authorized several rounds of war financing, and each one had proven insufficient. The Act of February 20, 1863 was the Confederacy's largest single bond authorization, intended to raise tens of millions of dollars to sustain an army fighting on multiple fronts. It produced the highest-volume bonds of the entire Confederate fiscal program.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe man on this certificate, Christopher G. Memminger, was the architect of Confederate finance. A Charleston lawyer and former South Carolina state legislator, he served as Treasury Secretary from the Confederacy's founding in February 1861 through June 1864, when he resigned under pressure as the financial situation deteriorated beyond repair. He managed an impossible task: funding a four-year war with no established banking infrastructure, no reliable tax base, and a naval blockade that strangled exports and choked off foreign exchange. Bonds like this one were his primary instrument. They were sold to Southern civilians, planters, and merchants, with a promise of repayment in coin after Confederate independence.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat independence never came. Under Section 4 of the 14th Amendment (ratified 1868), the United States explicitly prohibited honoring any Confederate debt. Every bond became worthless overnight.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eConfederate bonds cataloged under the Ball system (the current dealer standard) and Criswell numbers are the two references used by serious collectors and auction houses. Cr. 124 \/ Ball 192 is well-documented, with a known issuance of 56,417, but historically significant as a centerpiece of the Confederacy's largest financing effort.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCivil War financial documents are among the most compelling artifacts in American scripophily: primary sources from the economic machinery of a war that defined the nation. Offered as a collectible.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ticker History","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52278005563679,"sku":"GOVT-CSA-BU-OLV-1863-002","price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0836\/8757\/1743\/files\/36178d56-31f3-4e1d-8d01-f75cb824e511-processed-cc855c6e.jpg?v=1774713659","url":"https:\/\/shop.tickerhistory.com\/zh\/products\/confederate-states-of-america-500-bond-1863","provider":"Ticker History","version":"1.0","type":"link"}