Confederate States dollar

Confederate States dollar

$1,000 depicting John C. Calhoun and Andrew Jackson $50 depicting Jefferson Davis
Unit
Symbol	$ or C$‎
Denominations
Subunit
1⁄100	cent
Symbol
cent	¢
Banknotes	50¢, $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100, $500, $1,000
Coins	50¢, 1¢
Demographics
Date of introduction	April 1861
Date of withdrawal	1865
User(s)	Confederate States
This infobox shows the latest status before this currency was rendered obsolete.

The Confederate States dollar was first issued just before the outbreak of the American Civil War by the newly formed Confederacy. It was not backed by hard assets, but simply by a promise to pay the bearer after the war, on the prospect of Southern victory and independence. As the Civil War progressed and victory for the South seemed less and less likely, its value declined. After the Confederacy's defeat, its money had no value, and individuals and banks lost large sums.

The first series of Confederate paper money, issued in March 1861, bore interest and had a total circulation of $1,000,000.^[1] As the war began to turn against the Confederates, confidence in the currency diminished, and the government inflated the currency by continuing to print unbacked banknotes. By the end of 1863, the Confederate dollar (or "Greyback", to distinguish it from the then-new "Greenback" paper U.S. dollar, which was likewise put into circulation during the war) was quoted at just six cents in gold, and fell further still.

The Greyback is now a prized collector's item, in its many versions, including those issued by individual states and local banks. The various engravings of leading Confederates, gods and goddesses, trains, ships, and slaves on these hastily printed banknotes, sometimes cut with scissors and signed by clerks, continue to stimulate debate among antique dealers, with even some of the counterfeit notes commanding high prices.