Civil War Currency

Phillip Whiteman, Civil War historian, will present a lecture on the various forms of money used by the Union and the Confederacy during the American Civil War.

The lecture will take a closer look at coins, or rather the lack of coins, after the first year of the war. Fractional currency, stamps, tokens and shinplasters had their place in both the north and south.

The Civil War forced both sides to look at new ways to finance their armies, and these measures added to the growing problems that affected their economies.

The presentation will show that after the Civil War, America never looked at money and banking the same way as it had prior to the war. 

Whiteman will also have two cases of Civil War currency on display.