CT-XXI/B1
$20 1861 Female Riding Deer Fantasy Note PMG Choice Uncirculated 64 EPQ....FINEST KNOWN!!!
There are two schools of thought on the origins
of the enigmatic wartime Female Riding Deer note (not to be confused with later
post-war issues.) Hugh Shull, noted Confederate dealer and researcher, believes
that this note was, in fact, a spurious design originally placed in circulation
by presently unknown sources and that Samuel C. Upham made copies of it much
like other Confederate notes from which he produced facsimiles / counterfeits.
Supporting this is a letter dated 1874 from Upham indicating that "none of
the designs of the notes were originated with me." The other view, held by
George Tremmel, noted expert on Confederate counterfeit notes, interprets this
letter as meaning that none of the vignettes were original
with Upham and that Sam Upham was, in fact, the originator of
the wartime FRD (Female Riding Deer) design.
This is a pristine condition note with good paper, bright colors, and huge margins that will be the perfect representative for this interesting and complex fantasy / spurious note series. Of the eleven notes currently graded by PMG, this is the run away leader in terms of condition and is currently the "top pop" title holder.
Samuel Curtis Upham (February 2, 1819 – June 29, 1885) was an American journalist, lyricist, merchant, bookkeeper, clerk, navy officer, prospector, and counterfeiter, during the later part of the 19th century, sometimes, known as "Honest Sam Upham".
At the start of the Civil War Upham
began marketing patriotic items to support the Union,
and novelty items mocking the Confederacy, such
as cards depicting the head of Confederate President Jefferson Davis on
the body of a jackass. In February 1862, he acquired a sample of Confederate money and
quickly started producing his own counterfeits. His first printing consisted of
3,000 five-dollar notes, each stamped at the bottom with the words,
"Fac-simile Confederate Note – Sold wholesale and retail by S.C.
Upham 403 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia." He sold his first batch for a
penny per copy. Cotton smugglers in the south quickly began buying Upham's
novelty notes, trimming off the notice at the bottom and flooding the
Confederate economy with the bogus bills.
Before long Upham was advertising
what he called "mementos of the Rebellion" in the New York Tribune, Harper's Weekly, and other papers. He
also advertised himself willing to buy genuine Confederate notes and stamps, as samples he could later
duplicate. By late 1862 Upham was selling twenty-eight variations of
Confederate bill denominations and postage stamps, with currency notes selling
for five cents apiece. At some point Upham also switched from letter stock to high-quality
banknote paper for his forgeries.
Upham's operation caused a dilemma
for the Union government, as some members[ of
Lincoln's administration genuinely feared that to permit an enterprise like
Upham's to carry on from the North would provoke southerners to retaliate by
counterfeiting northern currency. But the Union government did not possess any
legal means to stop Upham – because the Union government did not recognize
the legitimacy of the Confederate government, they could not prosecute someone
for counterfeiting Confederate currency. At first, Union officials simply tried
to persuade Upham to cease operations – however, when he declined Upham
soon found himself under investigation by these same officials, who alleged he
was counterfeiting Union currency as well. Upham vehemently denied this claim,
but likely would have gone to trial had U.S. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton not personally
intervened to dismiss the case. Some conspiracy theorists allege
Stanton was also Upham's source for genuine banknote paper, in a deliberate
effort to destabilize the Confederate economy.
The Congress of the Confederacy
responded to the flood of counterfeit bills by imposing the death sentence on
convicted counterfeiters. Upham would later brag the Confederacy put a $10,000
reward on his capture, dead or alive. He later wrote, "During the
publication of those facsimile notes I was the 'best abused man' in the
Union. Senator Foote, in a speech before the
rebel Congress, at Richmond, in 1862, said I had done more to injure the
Confederate cause than General McClellan and
his army..."
Upham later claimed he had
"printed from March 12, 1862, to August 1, 1863, one million five hundred
and sixty four thousand facsimile Rebel notes, of denominations ranging from
five cents to one hundred dollars, and presume the aggregate issue, in dollars
and cents, would amount to the round number of fifteen millions of
dollars". Some modern analyses estimate his fake Confederate money
amounted to between .93% and 2.78% of the Confederacy's total money supply.
By the end of the war other printers
were making and selling their own counterfeit bills, prompting Upham to lower
his prices. The complete devaluation of genuine Confederate currency by later
war years further cut into his business. Southerners were largely eschewing
Confederate notes, instead relying on barter or northern bills. CSA notes were
rarely used after the fall of Vicksburg (July 1863) west of the Mississippi
because of the difficulty of transporting notes across the Union controlled
river. Mr. Jones, from his post war book "Life of a Rebel Clerk"
states that Mr. CC Thayer (a signer of many CSA notes) tried to transport a
large amount of CSA notes from Mississippi to Texas (CSA's Department of the
Trans-Mississippi) but failed and returned to Richmond in late 1863.
Upham discontinued his facsimile
business in late 1863 and returned to selling stationery, perfume, and hair
dye. His notes were still being used in the war-torn South by Union soldiers
and other persons after he shut down his business.