As phony as a Confederate two-dollar bill?
Yes, it really is a North Carolina two dollar bill, hand numbered and signed in 1863. Many states (North and South), as well as the Federal and Confederate governments, printed their own bills at the time of the Civil War. They were rather like bonds, in that the issuers would exchange them on presentation for actual currency (gold or silver). Over the course of the war, many Southern states had to print bills far beyond their ability to back them in gold, and they became worthless inflation money. Nowadays, they are quite popular as collectibles. This is one of my favorite bills, because it shows the North Carolina Capital, which still stands here in Raleigh. The text reads "THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA Will Pay TWO DOLLARS to Bearer at the Treasury on or before 1st Jan. 1866. Raleigh, January 1st 1863."
And here's a North Carolina three dollar bill. The artwork is based, I believe, on the North Carolina state seal. The text reads "THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA Will Pay THREE DOLLARS to Bearer Redeemable at the TREASURY on or before the FIRST DAY OF JANUARY 1866."
Both bills were printed by J.T. Patterson & Co, Augusta Georgia. These bills are of the second North Carolina issue in 1863. Bills of the first issue in 1861, also printed by J.T. Patterson, were much cruder.
