Jewelry Antiques of the 20th Century

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Undoubtedly, many amateur history buffs have viewed Confederate money. They've seen actual bills exhibited in a battlefield museum, possibly.  Perhaps as kids they played with reproduction Confederate dollars purchased from a toy store. Relatively few, though, have ever seen a Confederate bond, or even know what it is.

Confederate war bonds raised money for desperately needed food and supplies for southern soldiers during the war. They were a primary method for the the government at Richmond to raise money by borrowing from its citizens.  A person would loan funds to the CSA and in return receive one of these bonds, which was a inscribed with a written guarantee to repay the lender--along with a certain amount of--beginning on a date in the future.

With the Confederacy's destruction, those loans never got repaid, of course, and the bonds languished in closets and trunks for as long as a century or more.

Today, though, those Confederate bonds are sought-after collector's items. And, you can turn around and sell Confederate bonds (along with other types of paper items) on eBay for some extra spending money.

Confederate bonds are lovely when framed and exhibited on one's wall. Some of them could be considered true works of art.  In addition, thanks to their historic aspect, they can lead to many a fascinating conversation.

Confederate bond certificates were put out in a range of dollar amounts. They also differed from one another in terms of the inscriptions and illustrations they used.

From an age when even a common banking certificate could be an exercise in ornateness, the Confederacy's bonds were flush to the metaphorical gills with flourishes, including such staples as fields and cities, mythological figures, and, naturally, generals and other southern heroes.

If you decide to frame one of these bonds and display it, maybe on a study or office wall, you will enjoy looking at it and admiring its arresting appearance. Like me, you will surely start contemplating what it must have been like to be alive in that momentous age and during those particular exciting yet tragic years.

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Many Confederate bonds were actually sold to people in Europe, especially within Britain, not to the increasingly downtrodden people of the Confederacy. My Stonewall Jackson bond came from a hoard turned up in England in modern times. These sorts of finds come to light from time to time, pushing prices downward in the paper collectibles market, however, the situation is usually temporary.  Of late word come that Stonewall Jackson bonds are somewhat difficult to come across, so I'm very glad that I was able to acquire one when I did.

Buying and selling southern war bonds has become a big activity within the scripophily avocation, which refers to the collecting of old financial instruments (including stock certificates, bank notes and railroad bonds, for example) for their historical and artistic value.

If you wish to delve into this subject in more depth, you can find books, as well as lots of information on the Web about Confederate bonds. Learn a lot about their history and then go to coin shows where dealers sometimes have them for sale. If you're just interested in the art aspect, you can buy one or two of the more common examples relatively inexpensively.  If you are interested in trading for profit or as a side business, of course you will need to seriously study these bonds, their different issues and how to grade them for condition, and be ready for the give-and-take of haggling with other dealers.

Now, leave it to an enterprising English woman to become the foremost expert on making money--even earning one's living--selling pieces of American paper, not only old money and bonds but even pages torn out from old magazines.  You can read more about her surprising eBay paper selling method here.

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