I received my latest submission back from PMG yesterday. This one actually came back to me without being lost/stolen for a month. This time I decided to gamble that I would get them back and sent in two POW chits. The first chit is from Roswell, New Mexico. As I should review for new members, these Prisoner of War chits or vouchers were given to WWII Axis prisoners at the different camps they were interred.

   The latest addition to my growing MPC collection was a birthday present from my wife, thanks babe. In the photos below you can view my new Series 641, $10 Third Printing MPC. It was graded by PMG as a 64 Choice Uncirculated EPQ or Exceptional Paper Quality. It has a Schwan number of S887-3. The serial number is kind of cool as well. The Plate Position is 24.

   This blog is about another of my Civil War bank notes. This one is a Type 62 or as they are also called a T-62. Although this one dollar bill is graded a modest VG 8 by PMG, I love it. It has a ton of wear. Used by a lot of people during a very dark period of our history. This note is from the Sixth Issue. That is an act of the Confederate government, that on March 23, 1863 authorizes the $50,000,000 be printed monthly from April 1863 to January 1864. This resulted in T-56 to T-63 notes. All the notes are dated April 6, 1863. All the notes printed as "Payable two years after a peace treaty. T-61-63 notes are marked payable 6 months after a peace treaty.

   The note pictured below is a 1864 Confederate State of America Fifty Dollar bill. It is dated February 17th, 1864 and printed by Keatinge & Ball of Columbus, South Carolina. It was printed on high quality bank note paper. The total number of genuine notes issued was 1,671,444. I say genuine notes issued because even though the serial number of all the notes lawfully released were printed with a machine as a way to bamboozle counterfeiters, they were counterfeited in huge volumes in Havana, Cuba. The back of the T-66 was printed with a blue back and a red overprint the colors varied depending on how much ink was placed on the plate. The front has a range of color. It ranges a dusky dark pink to light red, dark red and a deep dark orange-red. The dark red commands the highest price. This type note is fairly common in all grades.

Having decided to branch out into paper currency, has open up a whole new world for me. There is a lot of studying and research to do before buying anything. Lucky I love research and the knowledge it brings. It also is giving me a new look at history. This is the second note I took a chance on my new found knowledge and bid on and won a raw note! So far I have done pretty well on both. This is a Large Size,. Series of 1899 One Dollar Silver Certificate. Commonly called a horse blanket due to it's size. This particular design is called the Black Eagle Note. Official name of vignette is Eagle of the Capitol. A vignette is an ornamental element of a bank note. This particular note is a Fr#233. The Fr stands for Arthur L. and Ira S. Friedberg. He is the Breen of paper money. Each type of currency has a different number due to changes on it. In this case the number 233 denotes the two signatures on it. They are, here, Tehee and Burke. The Friedberg number can make a huge difference in price on the same style note. This note came back from PMG, the paper money arm of NGC, as a 30 Very Fine EPQ. The EPQ stands for Exceptional Paper Quality. The 30 means the note will be lightly circulated and may have light soiling. There will typically be seven to ten folds. I won this note at auction and paid a modest price for it. Even taking in the cost of grading, I did alright. I'm having a ton of fun with this new interest in Numismatics. I recommend that you take a look at it. Most people collect either coins or paper money, not both. I say try it all! Thanks for looking and I look forward to your comments!