Southern State Issued
Currency of Mississippi During the Civil War
On January 9, 1861, Mississippi became
the 2nd State to secede from the Union. Mississippi joined the
Confederacy on March 30, 1861 when it ratified the Constitution of
the Confederate States.
The first series of notes issued by the State of Mississippi during
the Civil War were authorized under the Act of January 26, 1861,
which authorized the issuance of $1,000,000 in Treasury notes
bearing 10% interest. These notes were printed by the Southern Bank
Note Company which was a guise for the New York owned American Bank
Note Company and were issued between 1861 and 1863, when on
December 5, 1863, the interest payments were suspended. During the
brief existence of the Confederate States, cotton bonds were common
currency. The "cotton pledge" notes issued by the State of
Mississippi promised future cash payment to the bearer in exchange
for cotton. In addition to cotton backed notes, Mississippi also
pledged the "faith of the state" to back some of its notes. These
"faith" notes were fundable in bonds when presented in amounts of
$500 or more. During 1865, redeemed "faith" notes were stamped
RE-ISSUED and re-entered back into circulation. All State of
Mississippi issued notes are uniface except for the last issue in
1865, which have ornate backs and were fundable in 10 year
bonds.
"Act of January 26, 1861"
Issue
$10 interest bearing Note with a picture of
Mississippi state Treasurer, Colonel M.D. Haynes and a slave with a
horse
$20 interest bearing Note with a picture of
Mississippi state Treasurer, Colonel M.D. Haynes and slaves in the
field with a wagon of cotton
$50 interest bearing Note with a picture of
Mississippi state Treasurer, Colonel M.D. Haynes and vignettes of a
slave riding a mule drawn cotton wagon and a slave picking
cotton.
$100 interest bearing Note with a picture of
Mississippi state Treasurer, Colonel M.D. Haynes and the vignette
of a slave picking cotton
1862 "Cotton Pledged"
Issue
$1 "Cotton Pledged" Note with a train and a
maid
$2.50 "Cotton Pledged" Note with a farmer
and sickle and an Indian with bow and tomahawk
$3 "Cotton Pledged" Note with a train and a
sailor
$5 "Cotton Pledged" Note with a train,
sailing ship, and Indian maiden
$10 "Cotton Pledged" Note with a bare
breasted allegorical figure of Justice
$20 "Cotton Pledged" Note with Indians and
train
$50 "Cotton Pledged" Note with Indian and
slaves picking cotton
1862 "Faith of the State Pledged"
Issue
1862 Notes stamped "RE-ISSUED" are listed under the 1865 issues.
$5 "Faith of the State Pledged" Note with a
train and a young boy holding wheat
$10 "Faith of the State Pledged" Note with a
train and a slave with cotton bale
$20 "Faith of the State Pledged" Note with
Indian and train
$20 "Faith of the State Pledged" Note with
the scarcer blue overprint and very rare date of January 1,
1863
$50 "Faith of the State Pledged" Note with
the scarcer blue overprint
$50 "Faith of the State Pledged" Note with
the common red overprint
1864 Low Denomination
Issue
<
25 Cent Fractional Note with cotton
bolls
50 Cent Fractional Note with a slave hoeing
cotton
$1 Note with a freight train and allegorical
Ceres
$2 Note with a sailing ship
$3 Note with soldier on duty and an Indian
in the lower corner
1865 Issue
Includes the RE-ISSUED Notes from 1862
Two styles of "RE-ISSUED" stamps can be found on the re-issued notes. The most common stamp is done in black ink with "RE" and "ISSUED" merged and seperated by a hyphen (-) so it appears as RE-ISSUED. The second and far more rarer style stamp can be found in black or blue ink with "RE" and "ISSUE" split with middle period (·) between them so it appears as RE · ISSUED.
$10 RE-ISSUED Note. During 1865, redeemed
"Faith of the State" notes were stamped RE-ISSUED and re-entered
back into circulation. This note has the extremely rare seperated RE · ISSUED style of overstamp.
$20 RE-ISSUED Note. During 1865, redeemed
"Faith of the State" notes were stamped RE-ISSUED and re-entered
back into circulation. This note has the more commonly found style RE-ISSUED overstamp.
$50 Note with a written date of April 1,
1865. Pictures of an Indian and an allegorical Commerce and
Ceres
