10 Dollars

Hoyer & Ludwig were lithographers, not engravers — a distinction that matters here. The Confederacy's acute shortage of intaglio printing capacity in 1861 meant early Richmond-issued notes like this one were produced using lithography, a faster but less secure process that made counterfeiting considerably easier. Northern counterfeiters exploited this almost immediately, and genuine Confederate currency circulated alongside fakes from the war's opening months.

Cotton paper was a deliberate choice, reflecting both regional material availability and a nod to the agricultural economy underpinning the Confederate financial system. The blockade progressively strangled paper imports, making early issues like this one physically distinct from later wartime notes printed on whatever stock could be sourced.