T-8 PF-4 1861 $50 Confederate Paper Money PMG Choice About Unc 58 PLUS

  

Tellus at left; Washington, center. Issued from July 29, 1861 through October 22, 1861.

Blue "C" stamp at left. Believed to be a cancellation stamp that adds a modest premium to the note! PMG Choice About Uncirculated 58.

Previously mounted - all but invisible to the naked eye. Bright color and almost fully framed! Comes with a silver PLUS sticker indicating a superior PCGS-C 35 note!

George Washington is in the center. The vignette at the lower left is Tellus, the Goddess of the Earth, holding a globe with a bird perched upon it. The bird represents the dove sent forth from the Ark of Noah. The note is dated July 25, 1861.

The B plate version of this note is actually part of the group of notes that were first issued from Richmond. It was during this issue that the Confederate Treasury recognized that the actual Register and Treasurer could not possibly sign all of the notes. So, they began to enlist substitute signers and changed the notes to say "for Register" and "for Treasurer". Because this change was made after the printing of these notes began, some that were issued had "for" written by hand, while most had "for" printed.

Significantly more T-8s than T-7s had "for" signed. This type comes on thick bond paper, which did not wear well. The B plate varieties all come on this paper, and T-8 PF-1 examples have the serial numbers written in brown ink. The brown ink issues do not constitute a different variety from what is already described below. The Bb plate notes were also printed on thick bond paper, and had the serial numbers in red. Early in production of the C plate, Hoyer & Ludwig substituted thinner paper that was better suited for circulating currency. Some of the varieties in this type are due to size differences in the denominations in the rosettes. The C plate letter notes have a small "50" at upper right, and the B and Bb plate letter notes have a large 50 at upper right.

T-8 PF-5 and PF-8 are some of the great rarities with written "for". T-8 PF-1 and PF-3 are rare to very rare. Thin paper appears somewhat transparent or translucent. You can see the design through the back when held up to a strong light. Thick bond paper appears heavier, is three times thicker, and is opaque.

On notes printed on thick paper the design cannot be readily seen through the back. A note about 3rd party grading. PCGS and PMG do a good job putting a floor on quality within a grade range and have become proficient in detecting repairs (though occasionally they miss something, or see something that is not there, as we all can). Notes housed in Net or Apparent holders have a wide range of quality from very nice (in rare cases may be nearly choice) to dogs with major problems, so each needs to be evaluated on their own.

However, PMG and PCGS focus on technical grading due to circulation and damage and do not have a mechanism for evaluating condition or eye appeal - whether a note is average, better than average, choice or gem for the grade based on its color, trim and margins. The exception to this are slabbed notes of New or Uncirculated grades to some degree. This is important as Very Fine, Extremely Fine or AU notes can have a wide range of values depending on these factors not reflected in the slab grade. A fully framed Confederate or obsolete note is worth considerably to a lot more than one that is trimmed into the margin for the same grade.

These factors can affect the value of a note by 50%, 2-1 or even 3-1, e. I will continue to use the terms plus for above average, choice and gem to mean varying degrees of superiority of condition and eye appeal of a note within a grade as documented in my book which is based on what collectors seek out and pay premiums for. In coins, we've seen the third party graders add things like full bell lines, full head, full bands which reflected the market. Additional states are being added like Idaho and more than 20 others.