Wrut Sprri-OIratirit Olnmtfy 2Ifhrttry
The NEW BERN
PUBLISHED WEEKLY
IN THE HEART OP
•*term north
VOLUME 15
NEW BERN, N. C. 28560, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1973
NUMBER 49
New Bernians, as far back as
they can remember, have been
hearing wisecracks advising
them to "Save your Confederate
money, the South will rise
again!"Few jokes have been as
durabie, especially among
Yankee humorist appearing
before Yankee audiences.
Perhaps it’s poetic justice
that, in truth. Confederate bills
are steadily increasing in value,
while the United States dollar
declines. If you happen to have
any stwed away in an attic
trunk, don’t let a fast-talking
carpet bagger of the modem
variety talk you out of your
treasure.
When first issued. Con
federate "Blue Back" was
worth 95 cents on the dollar in
gold, but by the time Gen.
Robert E. Lee surrendered at
Appomattox, the valuation had
collapsed to 1.6 cents. Less than
a month later, when the last
active trading for Confederate
currency occurred, it was
possiUe to get 1,200 "Blue
Backs” for one U. S. "Green
back.”
Today, wer are told. Con
federate bills can be purdused
in limited amounts at prices
ranging from SO cents to one
dollar, but the mariiet is rising
as the Civil War Centenniid
moves along toward its
nationwide observance.
Already some of the rarer bUls
are selling for several hundred
dollars apiece, and you might
just happen to have one or
several this sort stuck away
somewhere.
It may surprise you, as it did
us, to learn that the Confederate
government issued more than
J 200,000,000 worth of paper
loney during the War Between
the States and almost all of it
was printed in small
denominations. The first note
was turned out in i861, and
printings were continued until
1865.
In fact, the bills were issued
so rapidly and in such large
numbers that a paper shortage
resulted. In those days, there
was no manufacturing of paper
from wood pulp. It all came
from linen and cotton rags, and
quite a bit of the paper then
went into the Confederate biUs
was smuggled from England
and even some of the Normera
states. There were presses
located in several qx>ts below
the Masm-Dbcon line, but the
principal ones were at Rich
mond, Va., and Columbia, S. C.
It is interesting to note that
the first Confederate money
issued at Montgmnery. Ala. in
1861, was engraved and printed
in New York City by the
National Bank Note company.
Th«De were a lot of Southern
sympathizers in Yankeeland,
and they helped the cause
along.
Unlike the United States
dollar, as we know it today, a
Confederate bill was intended to
be interest bearing. If you
hqtpen to have a Cimfederate
note, it probably bears an in-
scrij^ion promiung that it will
be redeemed six months of two
years "afier the ratification of a
treaty of peace between the
Confederate States and the
(Continued on page 8i
LEAVING HOME—Two year old Carter Hanes
Willson (grandson of the Mirror's editor) has a
chronic case of wanderlust, and here you see him
making one of his periodic departures from the
Willson town house in Alexandria, Virginia. Like all
other toddlers, he can travel without shoes, but not
without his security blanket. Packing a lunch is
unnecessary, as long as he has the middle two
fingers of his left hand to enjoy to the fullest.