Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
20 Dollars
| Issuer | Confederate States of America |
|---|---|
| Year | 1861 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 20 Dollars |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Vignette of a sailor leaning on a capstan at lower left, with a sailing ship at upper centre. Denomination and issuer inscriptions frame the design, printed by either H & L or J.T. Paterson depending on variant. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | P#31a - Printer: H & L P#31b - Printer: J.T. Paterson |
| Comments |
The Confederate States issued multiple $20 denominations through 1861, and P#31 sits within a particularly chaotic period of that output — before the Richmond government had established centralized printing authority. Early Confederate notes were produced by several competing Southern lithographers and bank-note firms, since the naval blockade made contracting with established Northern or European security printers effectively impossible from the outset.
Cotton paper was a practical necessity as much as a regional statement. The South's mill infrastructure was limited, and paper supply became a genuine constraint on note production as the war dragged on. By 1864 the quality had degraded sharply; 1861 issues are generally on noticeably more substantial stock.