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50 Cents State of Mississippi
| Issuer | State of Mississippi |
|---|---|
| Year | 1864 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Printed in black on yellow paper, the note carries the issuing authority text at centre with a numeral counter to the right; a vignette at the lower left portrays an enslaved figure picking cotton, a motif recurring on wartime Southern fractional currency. A bold red "50 Cts" overprint is applied across the face, and a manuscript auditor's signature appears at the bottom centre. The text is set in letterpress within a plain border, consistent with the austere production standards of Confederate-era state fractional issues. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | FIFTY Cts. THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI Will pay to the Bearer FIFTY CENTS in current money when the sum of Ten Dollars is presented. Macon. May 1st 1864. Auditor BY AUTHORITY of LAW |
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| Comments |
Mississippi's 1864 fractional issues occupy an awkward corner of Confederate-era fiscal history. By the time these notes were authorized, the state was effectively cut in half by Union control of the Mississippi River, and the Confederate dollar was already collapsing. The decision to commission printing from A. Pustet in Tittmoning — a Bavarian Catholic publishing and printing house better known for liturgical materials — reflects how thoroughly the blockade had severed Southern access to domestic and British printing capacity.
Whether significant quantities actually reached Mississippi for circulation is genuinely unclear. Notes printed in Bavaria in 1864 faced an Atlantic crossing through a Union naval blockade, and documentation on successful deliveries is sparse.