Currency was in a sorry state in Columbus in 1863.
The circulating medium of exchange consisted of a hodgepodge of private bank notes, new federal bills, fractional currency - bills with denominations ranging from 3 cents to 50 cents, postage stamps, tokens and a few copper-nickel cents.
Gold and silver disappeared from circulation with the first shots of the Civil War. Columbus papers were filled with ads in 1863 placed by banks offering to buy gold and silver.
Cents, too, were in short supply. "Where do the pennies go?" the editor of The Capital City Fact asked in a January article about the "notorious scarcity of cents in circulation."
"Considering what a nuisance their abundance was before the suspension of specie and their immense coinage since, it is a general wonder where they all can be."
To alleviate the problem, the mint stepped up production in 1863, minting 48 million cents, four times the 1862 mintage.
While the metal in a cent was never worth anywhere near a cent in 1863, cents were frequently advertised in larger cities at premiums of 2 to 20 percent above face value.
Banks packaged the cents in bags of 25 so that they could be used in place of quarters.
Postage stamps and fractional currency - small-denomination bills modeled after stamps - filled the void.
Postage stamps were too fragile for circulation and fractional bills weren't much better.
The Columbus Gazette reported on Feb. 6, "Our postmaster is now redeeming soiled postage stamps that have been left at the post office for that purpose."
In August, The Ohio State Journal, noted, "There is much complaint about the torn, dirty and mutilated postal currency."
Paper money, even low-denomination fractional currency bills, was subject to counterfeiting and altering.
"Look out for counterfeits," the Capital City Fact warned on May 16. "Counterfeit 50 cents postage currency are in general circulation. The engraving is rather coarse and blurred."
In December, the same paper reported that raised fractional bills, bills on which 10 cents had been altered or raised to look like 50 cents, were in the city.
Counterfeit private bank notes continued to be a problem in 1863.
Every other week or so, the city's papers reported a new fake in circulation.
Phony $2 bills issued by the Merchants and Mechanics Bank of Wheeling, Virginia, were "well done and calculated to deceive," the Fact reported on Oct. 27.
Counterfeit detectors - booklets designed to help merchants steer clear of fakes - were still a factor in commerce in 1863.
In an August report on a counterfeit $2 Pennsylvania bill, The Fact noted, "As this note is not described in any of the detectors, the public should be on the look out."
United States Notes weren't immune to counterfeiting, either. In February and August, raised federal bills were found in circulation in Columbus.
Salmon P. Chase is on the $1 bill, not the $10, the Fact advised merchants after raised $1 bills were found in circulation.
National Bank notes, which would replace private bank notes in early 1864, were just entering circulation in late 1863.
Previously, contracts generally stipulated payment in New York currency or equivalent.
In 1863, Columbus banks discounted New York bills by half a percent. The discount represented the cost of shipping the bills to New York for redemption and the interest lost on the bills' value while in transit.
The First National Bank of Columbus (Charter No. 123) opened its doors for business on Dec. 7, but didn't issue bills (now very scarce) until the following year.
Under the heading, "Nearly Ready," the Columbus Gazette reported on Feb. 12, 1864, "The First National Bank of Columbus have received their notes and as soon as they can be signed will be ready for circulation."
Within two months, clearing houses around the county announced their intention to cease handling private bills, signaling their end as a circulating medium.
"The (Chicago) Board of Trade has resolved to shut down on all kinds of paper money issues on the 15th of May proximo, except national currency. After that day the Board will neither receive or pay out any but national currency," The Columbus Daily Express reported on April 28, 1864.
The Alton (Ill) Telegraph lauded the move in April, urging other commercial centers to follow suit.
"If this policy is rigidly adhered to the whole Northwest will soon enjoy a sound, uniform National currency; the government will find room in which to circulate tens of millions of greenbacks, without inflating the currency, and every dollar thus circulated is the same thing as a free loan to Uncle Sam to help him put down the rebellion.
"From this day to May 15th, a heavy stream of wild-cat will flow to New York, and an equal stream of greenbacks will flow into the West to fill the vacuum."
(Private bank notes were often pejoratively called wildcats. Michigan notes, which were notoriously bad, often featured a wild cat in the design.)
