20 Dollars

By 1864, Confederate currency had lost most of its practical purchasing power — hyperinflation driven by military reversal, overprinting, and collapsing public confidence had rendered earlier denominations nearly worthless in daily commerce. The February 1864 Currency Reform Act forced a mandatory exchange of older notes at a discount, partly as a de facto tax on holders, partly to reduce the staggering volume of paper in circulation. This note belongs to the post-reform issue, printed by Keatinge & Ball in Columbia, South Carolina, not Richmond, despite the "Richmond" place-of-payment text on the face — a distinction frequently lost on collectors.

The 1864 series ran through the Confederacy's final year of existence. Notes from this issue were often used to pay soldiers months behind in wages.