FRACTIONAL CURRENCY: 1862-1876
Most people today have no idea that the United States government once issued paper money with denominations as low as 3 cents. These fractional currency notes, as they are called today, were all valued at less than a dollar, hence the fractional name. Often dismissed as falling between coins and regular paper money, these have an interesting historical background, closely tied to the momentous events of the Civil War. It all began in the opening days of 1861.
As the nation drifted ever closer to civil war between North and South, the government in Washington seemed paralyzed under the outgoing presidency of James Buchanan. With the inauguration of Abraham Lincoln on March 4, however, events began to move with dizzying speed as the seceding states had already organized themselves into a new government, the Confederate States of America. Southern military commanders soon started to seize Federal forts along the ocean; when Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor refused to surrender, Confederate shore batteries opened fire and war was now a terrible reality.
Both sides felt that the conflict would be over quickly, with the other side collapsing under strong pressure from the victorious troops. The truth turned out to be less pleasant as the Union at first was unable to invade the South but, in turn, did not fall apart under Southern attacks. Despite seemingly endless military defeats in the opening
