Money

[Silvana Siddali]

How do you handle money at authentic events?

This question seems to come up more often these days. At Gray Summit (aka Boonesfield village) we will use both the credit system, or "book money," and military scrip. I would be interested to know how other people pay for goods & services in a period correct manner?

Historically, a small hamlet would have had several different types of monetary exchange:
(a) "book money," or credit, where the merchant asks creditors to pay in the fall and spring;
(b) bank notes, issued by local banks, farmers' associations, railroad or canal companies, the state bank, and private capitalists; these would come from a fairly wide geographic range. Obviously the farther the issuing bank, the more discounted the note.
(c) military scrip (here are some great images);
(d) legal bank notes from the state;
(e) metal coins, such as Indian head pennies (most common), gold coins, and half dollars
(f) bank checks, which would really only have been used between people who knew one another, and
(g) other legal tender such as postage stamps. And then there's the barter system, but I'm more interested in currency right now.
(h) after mid-1862, some soldiers would have been paid in greenbacks. But by Oct 1864 (Lost Tribes event) greenback dollars were discounted to 40 cents in many areas of the US, and local merchants would have hesitated to take them.

So, of course knowing how to pay would involve a lot of careful research into actual currency & mediums of exchange, but I'm curious as to how one could institute a system of exchange in which the participants actually felt as though they were paying real money for goods & services.

I imagine that using a currency that represented a real value would be a great way of bringing the past to life.

What do you think?

[Pvt Schnapps]

Re: Money

There's a fair amount of information in diaries and letters about the prices of goods and services, and some of these get pretty detailed. James Jones began quoting the prices of market goods in Richmond in A Rebel War Clerk’s Diary, for example, and Horatio Nelson Taft did something similar in Washington during the war.

That said, you could set your prices for any goods for sale according to those references and have people "buy" period currency at a cost of, for example, fifty cents to a penny for greenbacks in '64 to '65. After the event, left over notes could be re-exchanged for contemporary money. To guard against counterfeits, you could use notes signed or initialed by your banker.

Just some ideas. Not sure if the following directly responds, but I hope it has some value for the general topic:

One of the best sources I've found for the discussion of federal currency during the war is Wesley Mitchell's A History of the Greenbacks:

http://books.google.com/books?id=pmdEAAAAIAAJ&printsec=titlepage#v=onepage&q=&f=false

This has a series of appendices tracing price fluctuations in the north during the war, as well as a chart showing the fall of the greenback against gold. Another chart shows the various kinds of currency in circulation, including demand notes (the '61 "greenback" redeemable in gold), "legal tender" currency (the '62 and later greenback, redeemable in interest bearing securities), interest bearing certificates (some officers received these as pay), state issues, “postage currency,” (issued in lieu of coins in late ‘62) and fractional notes (replacing postage currency in ’63).

It’s probably worth noting (if I can summarize some of Mitchell and other’s findings) that although the legal tender dollar fell to about 35 cents in gold in ’64, it rose steadily afterward, price increases lagged well behind decreases in the gold value of the greenback, and wage increases lagged even further. So although there was actual inflation in the north, and inflationary behavior (people spending more on goods and services than they otherwise might), it wasn’t remotely as bad as in the south, nor did the southern currency deteriorate as bad as the continental until the last year of the war. (Confederate dollars ran to about 80 cents in gold right up till ’62, dropping to about 33 cents by the end of that year; by early ’64 the CS$ dropped to about four cents, then to about one and two-thirds by the end of ’64, at which point it nose-dived further.)

State notes in the north seem to have maintained the same value as greenbacks during the war, and both were widely accepted because, even with their decline relative to gold, they maintained most of their actual purchasing power (something seen most graphically in the annual general orders for clothing prices) and, besides, there wasn't much else. Gold coins remained in common use in California, but I don't think elsewhere.

What one would actually use for money in the rest of the country would depend on the time of war:

1861: US – gold replaced by demand notes in late summer ($5 denominations and up); lesser coins become hoarded in winter as talk of “legal tender” notes gets about; state notes widely used, especially for smaller denominations. CS – state notes supplemented by high denomination 1st & 2nd issue CS dollars; in September, “3rd Issue” comes out from several printers, with denominations as low as $2.

1862: US – legal tender notes replace demand notes, stamps alone and packaged in envelopes (marked, e.g., “25 cents”) replace coins; by late summer “postage currency” comes out in sheets of 5, 10, 25, and 50 cent denominations; army paymasters cut out 25 and 50 cent notes for $1 and $2 bills. CS – 4th & 5th issues come out, with denominations as low as $1.

1863: US -- $1 & $2 greenbacks become widely circulated; in summer “fractional notes” replace postage currency. CS – 6th issue notes come out and include 50 cent Jefferson Davis fractional notes.

1864: US continues production of legal tender and fractional notes; bronze pennies go out of circulation almost as soon as they enter it. A variety of “shinplasters” augment fractional notes to facilitate lesser transactions. CS comes out with 7th issue notes.

It’s probably also worth mentioning that “book money” never goes out of style – even soldiers run accounts with sutlers and each other, and such credit arrangements go a long way in making up for any deficiencies in printed currency.

Anyway, it’s something I’d been reading about lately and thought I’d share.

[OldKingCrow]

Re: Money

At Sparks of Secession - Westville 1861 we were issued paper period notes and could exchange modern currency at the banker for additional period script at our choosing which with the good cheer flowing at Nuckols Tavern the trips to the Banker were frequent.

The Widow Rumble and Jim Butler did such an amazing job on the small details for that event which really added fun and realism to the town. A life altering experience for me and my family personally.

[Silvana Siddali]

Re: Money

At our village we have a credit system in place that works pretty well. In the past, our mercantile proprietress has always felt comfortable carrying people's credit until the end of the event, when we pay in modern currency. The ratio is 10 : 1, which isn't completely accurate. I wish we could come up with something that reflected real 1860s prices, but that would probably be very cumbersome.

We had floated the idea of using reproduced Missouri currency from originals scanned at the MO Historical Society, but Deborah was (rightly) concerned about counterfeit currency. Apparently counterfeiting was a serious problem in the mid-19th century as well. There's a fantastic new book that discusses counterfeiting, currency, and money in the 19th century US: A Nation of Counterfeiters, by Stephen Mihm. The chapter on the Civil War era is especially useful.

Some years ago we talked about the relative cost of consumer goods on this forum -- the discussion was swept away with some crash or other, but essentially I think we agreed that there is no real ratio to the cost of goods & services. As Pvt Schnapps says, prices would have to be researched in period sources.

Anyway -- the issue has arisen again because we have new people in the village, some of whom are not residents & therefore not known to us.

[OldKingCrow]

Re: Money

We had floated the idea of using reproduced Missouri currency from originals scanned at the MO Historical Society, but Deborah was (rightly) concerned about counterfeit currency. Apparently counterfeiting was a serious problem in the mid-19th century as well. There's a fantastic new book that discusses counterfeiting, currency, and money in the 19th century US: A Nation of Counterfeiters, by Stephen Mihm. The chapter on the Civil War era is especially useful.

Concerned your participants will pass counterfeit currency ? You can mark / alter your "real" money and prevent that.

[benjclark]

Re: Money

Concerned your participants will pass counterfeit currency ? You can mark / alter your "real" money and prevent that.

I know a group who uses new currency (redesigned) for nearly every event. These folks keep running accounts which are carefully kept and guarded, but the currency itself changes frequently. You could certainly use hi-res scans of period currency and then just use elements of it to create a fantasy currency which will work for your purposes. Or, even better, find a letterpress printer locally who you can work with for a closer approximation.

Benjamin L Clark
(Who has seen too many horrid scans on pathetic paper)

[PogueMahone]

Re: Money

Actually, I just talked to a local Secret Service Agent named Fox ... no, I didn't just make that up ... and he tells me that any reproduction of currency ever issued by the U.S. government is subject to counterfeit laws. The law is specific that any reproduction must be one-sided and color copies must be either less than three-fourths smaller or one and one-half times larger than the actual currency.

He could not tell me if this law applied to local bank or state issued notes.

I asked about marking the bills with some sort of "facsimilie" or "reproduction" stamp and he indicated that it still had to meet the other rules first.

Confederate money does not seem to be under these rules, however, as it was never recognized by the U.S. government as legal tender.

I'm still trying to find out about the state and local notes.

I'm now wondering if I should toss my stash of repo greenbacks, since possession of counterfeit money is also a crime.

Does anyone know that actual dimensions of an original greenback?

[Pvt Schnapps]

Re: Money

Demand notes and legal tender notes were 3 1/8 by 7 1/2 inches. Most Confederate notes were the same size, but one and two dollar notes were, I think, 2 3/4 by 6 inches and the Jefferson half-dollar was smaller. Fractional notes issued by the US Treasury were of two sizes, both smaller than dollar notes.

A good source for the size and number of notes issued is John Jay Knox's United States Notes, 1885: http://books.google.com/books?id=a8o...age&q=&f=false

Knox served as Comptroller of the Currency and had an interest in the subject.

I believe Bob Sullivan had a similar conversation with his local Secret Service office and heard that as long as he had them marked "facsimile" he was OK. I carry my own reproductions of period currency, as accurate as I can make them and am not particularly concerned about the Secret Service. I have no interest in passing them, and I know that any collector would immediately know them for what they are.

While I don't expect the USSS to condone what I do, I don't expect to confront them about it either. They're busy with other things.

If anyone's worried, it would make sense for them to stick with state notes. According to the work by Mitchell cited earlier, until 1863 there were rather more state notes in circulation than either demand notes or legal tender notes, and they never made up less than about a quarter of the circulation (see his Table V, p. 179).

You can find reproductions of state notes on several web sites.

[PogueMahone]

Re: Money

I believe Bob Sullivan had a similar conversation with his local Secret Service office and heard that as long as he had them marked "facsimile" he was OK. I carry my own reproductions of period currency, as accurate as I can make them and am not particularly concerned about the Secret Service. I have no interest in passing them, and I know that any collector would immediately know them for what they are.

While I don't expect the USSS to condone what I do, I don't expect to confront them about it either. They're busy with other things.

If anyone's worried, it would make sense for them to stick with state notes. According to the work by Mitchell cited earlier, until 1863 there were rather more state notes in circulation than either demand notes or legal tender notes, and they never made up less than about a quarter of the circulation (see his Table V, p. 179).

You can find reproductions of state notes on several web sites

I'm not too worried about it either, however, people should be aware that it is illegal and the fine is $5,000 or 15 years or both.

[Pvt Schnapps]

Re: Money

And payable in current money, too. Point well taken.

[vagent]

Re: Money

Of note, while relic hunting in CW camps it is very common to find obsolete (for the 1860s) coins...big pennies, Spanish Reale coins in various denominations, english Pennies, Va halfpennies. Even found a counterfeit half-dime once (dated 1858). This time also saw the introduction of the large two-cent piece and the tiny silver 3 -cent piece, always fun to find one of those. The Flying Eagle cent was used during the War, and preceded the Indian head penny.

[Dreamer42]

Re: Money

Having spoken to a bank employee, the problem is when you attempt to exchange a fake as if it were the real thing, like at a grocery store, etc. In a situation where 1) you are portraying a historical event, and everyone knows beforehand that the script is NOT considered real, and 2) the fake currency has, in truth, been exchanged for real currency - again, not attemtping to pass a fake for a real bill, you are within the law.
The law is, as I understand it, aimed at intent. No one has criminal intent, in fact if the fake currency only represents real currency to be exchanged later, where is the crime?

Like some of you, I have printed up some 1860s curency, and in Photoshop I add REPRODUCTION, and when the bill is flipped over, the sides are facing the same direction - that is both sides are right-side up.

- Jay Reid
Dreamer42
9th Texas

[PogueMahone]

Re: Money

Having spoken to a bank employee, the problem is when you attempt to exchange a fake as if it were the real thing, like at a grocery store, etc. In a situation where 1) you are portraying a historical event, and everyone knows beforehand that the script is NOT considered real, and 2) the fake currency has, in truth, been exchanged for real currency - again, not attemtping to pass a fake for a real bill, you are within the law.
The law is, as I understand it, aimed at intent. No one has criminal intent, in fact if the fake currency only represents real currency to be exchanged later, where is the crime?

Like some of you, I have printed up some 1860s curency, and in Photoshop I add REPRODUCTION, and when the bill is flipped over, the sides are facing the same direction - that is both sides are right-side up.

- Jay Reid
Dreamer42
9th Texas

Jay,

I've been employed in banking for over 25 years. Your information is incorrect. Possession of reproduced U.S. money is illegal, regardless of intent.

Refer back to my post regarding my conversation with the Secret Service.

[Silvana Siddali]

Re: Money

It's probably just as authentic (and apparently more legal) to use state or local bank bills. I am under the impression that money was more fluid, less stable, and probably less available during the war years, particularly in a wartorn border state like Missouri. So state bills, local notes produced by banks or railroads, etc., would have been in circulation -- maybe even more readily than U.S. currency.

My initial question was more about how you would set up an authentic medium of exchange so that participants can feel they're paying real funds. I'm inclined to try to find currency or notes that are as close as possible to the originals without crossing the line into illegal activity.

This is an interesting conundrum for me because I think it duplicates some of the problems experienced by people who lived through the war. It's hard to know what the money is worth; which bills and notes are acceptable & which ones are counterfeit or worthless; who will take what kind of money; and so on.

[Pvt Schnapps]

Re: Money

I agree about using state bank notes. I've attached a chart from Mitchell's book, cited earlier. This chart shows the quantity of different kinds of money in circulation in the U.S. during the war, from coins to 7-30 Treasuries. Unfortunately it doesn't include the Confederacy, but if you look at the column for fiscal year 1860 you can see that state bank notes accounted for half the money in circulation then.

This makes them a great choice for events that want to use some kind of "money" without breaking the law. Facsimiles of historical notes are available online, often with the spaces for date, number, and signatures (bank president and clerk) blank. As I suggested earlier, you can guard against counterfeiting by having the notes signed and dated by someone at the event. Handwriting is pretty distinctive and all but a few reenactors (sadly) don't know one end of a dip pen from another.