$ 1000 Confederate Bill - Grade & Authenticty Ck.

Serial number 297 was a common replica sold in Woolworth stores.

These replicas were packaged up and sold in five and dime stores during the 1960's during the anniversary of the Civil War. They were also sold as souvenirs at Civil War site gift shops in the 1960's, too.

In reference to the aforementioned URL that's great that a fake bill can be ID'd by a telltale serial #.

But if I were a counterfeiter I would never take the time to create a fake bill with one of these numbers on it; it just does not make sense.

How then, does one differentiate a counterfeit Confederate bill that does NOT have one of these above serial #s printed on it? That's the real challenge since I'm positive that they exist out there somewhere.

That's all fine but what about the poor smuck at an auction who has no idea of the details of this kind of info...

This concern leads me pose a couple of applicable questions:

1) Do the fake bills exhibit certain visual(color shades/fake signatures) or tactile(touch/feel/texture/smell) characteristics that any ordinary Joe can rely upon to quickly avoid being taken to the cleaners at a fast paced auction?

2) Where does this up-to-date info.(# printed and # hand-signed) reside?

Confederate currency is one of those areas of collecting where you need to know your stuff or you are going to get burned. It's probably not an exaggeration to say there's the same amount, if not more, fakes out there than there are genuine. With that being said, I could tell right off that this was a fake even without looking up serials. The first thing that jumps out is the details and color. If you take a genuine and fake bill and put them side by side, you can see that all of the design is a lot more clear and sharp on the genuine bill. On genuine notes, signatures should be a reddish-brown and they often bleed through on the back of the note. The signatures on fakes are usually black and looked printed/stamped. Third thing is the feel of the paper. Genuine notes have the feel of tissue paper. A lot of times the fakes have rigid and stiff paper that is washed to look old.

Like always, there are exceptions to this because there ARE fakes out there that fool even the best enthusiasts, but for the most part, what I listed above is what you should be on the lookout for if you're trying to determine a fake from a genuine bill.

There are 72 different types of Confederate currency that are generally recognized. In addition to the Confederate States, individual southern states issued currency as did individual southern banks, so there are possibly more than 72 depending how you define "confederate currency". An internet source that defines the 72 types, provides statistics on issuance (mintage), and describes the issues is:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confe...tates_dollar

PCGS also uses the 72 types for identidfication purposes, and you can use the T number to find PCGS graded samples and grading standards.

The replica you have is a T-1 (the first series issued by the Confederate State). That series was issued on actual bank note paper, and the engraving and printing done by the National Bank Note Company in New York City. That source dried up as the war started. The paper thereafter went from standard bank note paper, to watermarked linen/cotton paper, to cheap wood pulp paper (that some might describe as tissue paper).
The original T-1 notes were signed by the official, then later types started to be signed by clerks using the officials' names, and eventually just a facsimally printed signature.
Printing went from engraved to lithograph.
In order to know what type of paper, signature, or quality to expect from a real confederate note, you need to obtain the Type ("T") number of that note and then research that type. As a general rule they went from a high quality in 1861 to a very low quality in 1864.
On the subject of counterfeits, the North printed a large amount of counterfeits and flooded the South with them in order to collapse the Southern economy. These counterfeits are as collectable as the actual notes, so accidentally buying one of them is not a complete loss.