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50 Dollars
| Issuer | Confederate States of America |
|---|---|
| Year | 1861 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Keatinge & Ball |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Central intaglio vignette of Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States, shown in bust-length portrait facing slightly left, set against a green guilloche underprint. Large numeral '50' counters appear at upper left and upper right within circular lathe-work medallions, with the bold letterpress legend 'STATES OF' at left and 'AMERICA' at right flanking the central portrait. The note bears manuscript signatures for Register and Treasurer at lower left and right respectively, a manuscript serial number, and a date line reading 'Richmond, Sept. 2nd 1864' at center bottom, with the clause 'Receivable in Payment of All Dues Except Export Duties' printed beneath. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
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| Protection description | Variable paper quality and thickness; notes may be found with no watermark, with 'CSA' watermark in upper case, with 'CSA' watermark in script lettering, or with 'J. Whatman 1862' watermark. |
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| Comments |
The Confederate Treasury's relationship with its printers was shaped by necessity and geography. Keatinge & Ball operated out of Columbia, South Carolina — one of the few Southern firms capable of handling currency production after the Confederacy lost access to Northern engravers and the established American Banknote Company. The work was competent but produced under real supply constraints: suitable paper, ink, and skilled labor were all intermittently scarce throughout the war years.
P#16 is one of several 1861 issues that relied on a watermark as the primary security feature — modest protection against counterfeiting at a time when Union-produced fakes were already entering circulation with the explicit goal of destabilizing Confederate finances.