Fractional Currency Note Collection

Fractional currency is United States paper money that has a face value of less than one dollar.   At the height of the Civil War, people began hoarding coins – not just gold and silver, but small denominations made of copper and nickel.  This shortage made it very hard to transact business.  Merchants began to make hand-made tokens or used postage stamps for change.  In 1862, Treasurer of the United States, General Francis Elias Spinner, decided to use this idea, and the government began printing banknotes with denominations of less than a dollar. Initially called postage currency, they were later called fractional currency.

The denominations were: 5 cents, 10 cents, 25 cents, and 50 cents.

Unfortunately, people didn’t trust these fractional banknotes because they feared that at the end of the war, when one side won, the notes would be rendered useless.  This proved true, and by 1876, all notes were discontinued and were made redeemable for silver coins.  As such, nearly all of these Civil War collectibles were turned in.

These notes are historical relics – of the bygone days of the Civil War, when the Nation was torn apart.  They are scarce, rich in history and number few in quantity.