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50 Cents 'Fractional Currency' - 2nd issue
| Issuer | United States Treasury |
|---|---|
| Year | 1863 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | A central oval intaglio portrait of George Washington occupies the face, framed within an ornate cartouche and overlaid with a bronze oval overprint. Denomination numeral '50' appears within elaborately engraved guilloche medallions at left and right, set against an underprint incorporating industrial and maritime vignettes. Inscriptions arch along the upper and lower borders, with the authorizing act date and Treasury printing authority cited at the foot. |
|---|---|
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| Variants | P#104a - without overprint on back P#104b - overprint 18-63 on back P#104c - overprint 18-63 and A on back P#104d - overprint 18-63 and 1 on back P#104e - overprint 18-63 and O-1 on back P#104f - overprint 18-63 and R-2 on back P#104g - overprint 18-63 and T-1 on back |
| Comments |
The Second Issue fractional notes were the Treasury's direct response to a specific failure: the First Issue perforated edges, meant to deter counterfeiting by mimicking postage stamps, had proven both expensive to produce and impossible to keep intact through even light handling. The Second Issue dropped the perforation entirely and introduced a bronze oval surcharge printed over the face — an attempt to make photographic reproduction impractical at a time when photographers were already duplicating the First Issue notes with alarming ease.
Coins had effectively vanished from everyday commerce by 1863, hoarded by a public that trusted metal over wartime paper. These fractional notes filled the gap at the smallest transaction level — streetcar fares, newspaper boys, market stalls. Heavy use means surviving examples with the bronze surcharge still vivid are noticeably harder to find than the raw census numbers suggest.