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10 Cents 'Postage Currency' - 1st issue
| Issuer | United States Treasury |
|---|---|
| Year | 1862 |
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| Currency | Dollar (1785-date) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | POSTAGE CURRENCY FURNISHED ONLY BY THE ASSISTANT TREASURERS and designated Depositaries of THE U.S. 10 10 RECEIVABLE FOR POSTAGE STAMPS AT ANY U.S. POST OFFICE NATIONAL BANK NOTE CO. N.Y. |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Exchangeable for United States Notes by any Assistant Treasurer or designated U.S. Depository in sums not less than FIVE DOLLARS Receivable in payment of all dues to the U. States less than Five Dollars ACT APPROVED JULY 17, 1862 |
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| Comments |
Postage Currency was authorized by Congress in July 1862 as a direct stopgap after silver coin vanished from circulation almost overnight — hoarded by a public that didn't trust the Union's finances as the Civil War deepened. The idea was strikingly literal: reproduce actual postage stamp imagery on small paper notes, partly to reassure the public of their redeemability and partly because no alternative infrastructure existed yet for small-denomination fractional currency.
First-issue notes were perforated along the edges, mimicking stamp sheet production at the National Bank Note Company. That feature was dropped in later issues — the perforations slowed output and offered no practical benefit once the public had accepted the format.