The Confederate States of America - Civil War $5 Banknotes of 1863/64
 
A collection of these Civil War notes were obtained in USA in 1937. They were numbered serially, each number being handwritten and signed by the Registrar (Illegible but thought to be "King") and Treasurer (N.B. or A.B. Eapem??). All notes are uncirculated. This collection of three notes are numbered 123017, 123048 and 123049.
It appears that these notes were signed in sheet form using a multi-pen Pantograph resulting in some heavy inking in places. The ink seems to have contained an acidic material causing small seperations of the very thin paper along the tail of the Registrar's signature on some of the notes. The Treasurer's inking is lighter and better formed.
There is an ink mark on the top edge of each note formed by the tail of the Registrar's signature carrying over to the note below on the full sheet. This can be clearly seen on the front and reverse of each note. All notes carry a mark of the "B" series and an engraving date of 6th April, 1863. The engravers were Kealinge & Ball of Columbia, S.C. and the lithographers Evans & Cogswell. Both works being of high quality. The notes carry an overprint in red dated February, 1864. The reason for the overprint is not known but is probably an issue date.
It is thought that the notes were processed by the Confederates just ahead of the Union advance and show every sign of hasty measures. They may have been printed earlier and signed just prior to the capture of Columbia. The ink may not have had the time to dry as the sheets were placed over one another. The cut lines between the notes are not all straight and indicate the use of a slitting machine which enabled the thin banknote paper to move resulting in irregular cut lines on some of the notes. This could also be an indication of haste in the cutting process as some of the cuts intruded into the printed area, the margins being less than 1/8 inch wide, allowing little tolerance.
 
Altogether, very interesting items for the collector of Civil War memorabilia.