Southern State Issued Currency of Louisiana During the Civil War
On January 26, 1861, Louisiana became the
6th State to secede from the Union. On the eve of the Civil War,
47% of the population of Louisiana were slaves owned by 29% of the
households in the state. Louisiana was also one of the handful of
states where Blacks were also slave-owners. In 1830, 735 "free
people of color" owned a total of 2,351 slaves. Many of these
slaves however, were family members who would eventually manumit
them.
The state government of Louisiana like most of the Southern states,
issued their own currency. Unlike most other Southern states which
backed their currency by "full faith" of the state or by cotton,
Louisiana used the public lands to back their notes. During the
Civil War, Louisiana issued currency from 1862 through 1864. During
1862, there were 3 separate series of currency issued from Baton
Rouge, and only 1 series each during 1863 and 1864, and they were
issued from Shreveport.
1862 Issue, 1st Series from Baton
Rouge
... State of Louisiana 1862
$1 Note with Ceres seated. This note is
printed on the back of a Texas banknote. Many of the 1862 Louisiana
notes were printed on the plain backs of unissued bonds and
banknotes due to a severe shortage of paper.
... State of Louisiana 1862
$2 Note with allegorical figure of Ceres.
This note is printed on the back of a Texas
banknote.
1862 Issue, 2nd Series from Baton
Rouge
... State of Louisiana 1862
$1 Note with beehive. This note is printed
on the back of a Holly Springs, Mississippi
banknote.
... State of Louisiana 1862
$2 Note with beehive. This note is printed
on the back of a Holly Springs, Mississippi
banknote.
... State of Louisiana 1862
$3 Note with beehive. This note is printed
on the back of a Holly Springs, Mississippi
banknote.
1862 Issue, 3rd Series from Baton
Rouge
... State of Louisiana 1862
$5 Note with an allegorical representation
of the South slaying the North. This note is known as the "lazy 5"
note because of the sideways 5 at the bottom of the
note
1863 Issue from
Shreveport
... State of Louisiana 1863
$5 Note with an allegorical representation
of the South slaying the North.
... State of Louisiana 1863
$20 Note with Confederate General P.G.T.
Beauregard
... State of Louisiana 1863
$50 Note with Confederate General and
Episcopalian Minister, Leonadis Polk. Called the "Fighting Bishop"
by his troops
... State of Louisiana 1863
$100 Note with Louisiana Civil War Governor
Thomas O. Moore and the State capitol.
1864 Issue from
Shreveport
... State of Louisiana 1864
50 cent fractional note with an eagle on the
side of the note and a ship sailing near a fort
... State of Louisiana 1864
50 cent fractional note with 3 sailing
ships
... State of Louisiana 1864
$1 Note with George Washington, and Ceres
leaning on cotton bales
... State of Louisiana 1864
$1 Note with a ship inside of the oval. This
note is printed on extremely thin paper
... State of Louisiana 1864
$1 Note with a sailing ship and
locomotive
... State of Louisiana 1864
$1 Note with a steamboat and allegorical
Minerva
... State of Louisiana 1864
$1 Note with sailing ships on the left side
of the note and an allegorical representation of
Commerce
