Confederate $500 Bond - March 2, 1863 dated 8% Bond with 7 coupons - Criswell-124 - Portrait of Christopher Gustavus Memminger - Confederate States of America
Inv# CF1091 Bond Cat# CR-124
$500 8% Bond with 7 coupons. Criswell-124. Portrait of Christopher Gustavus Memminger. Printed by Evans & Cogswell, Columbia, SC. Great!
The Confederate $500 Bond, cataloged as Criswell-124, was authorized by the Act of Congress, C.S.A., on February 20, 1863, to finance the increasingly dire Southern war effort. Officially dated March 2, 1863, this 8% interest bond was lithographed by the renowned firm Evans & Cogswell in Columbia, South Carolina. It features an elaborate design with a central portrait of Christopher Gustavus Memminger, the inaugural Confederate Secretary of the Treasury, depicted in formal attire. A secondary vignette of a cotton plant is often found at the bottom, symbolizing the South’s primary economic resource.
These bonds were designed with semi-annual interest coupons to provide consistent payments to investors; while they originally carried more, surviving examples like the Criswell-124 are frequently found with seven coupons remaining, typically representing interest due through July 1, 1868. Memminger, whose image anchors the bond, grappled with managing the Confederacy’s hyperinflation and ultimately resigned in 1864. Following the war’s conclusion, these financial instruments became legally worthless under the 14th Amendment, which prohibited the United States from honoring Confederate debt.
Christopher Gustavus Memminger (1803–1888) was a prominent South Carolina lawyer, politician, and the first Secretary of the Treasury for the Confederate States of America. Born in Germany, he lost his parents early and was adopted by future Governor Thomas Bennett in Charleston. This adoption propelled him to become a significant figure in state politics, particularly in education reform and financial law. Initially a moderate, he shifted his stance to a strong supporter of secession after Lincoln’s election and played a crucial role in drafting the Provisional Constitution of the Confederacy.
In 1861, Memminger was appointed as the Confederate Secretary of the Treasury. However, he faced the daunting challenge of financing a war with limited resources. This led to the collapse of Confederate currency due to excessive reliance on paper money and debt. Consequently, he resigned in July 1864 and retired to his estate in Flat Rock, North Carolina. After the war, he returned to Charleston to resume his law practice and venture into the phosphate industry. Throughout his life, Memminger staunchly defended chattel slavery and significantly influenced the development of public school systems in South Carolina.
A bond is a document of title for a loan. Bonds are issued, not only by businesses, but also by national, state or city governments, or other public bodies, or sometimes by individuals. Bonds are a loan to the company or other body. They are normally repayable within a stated period of time. Bonds earn interest at a fixed rate, which must usually be paid by the undertaking regardless of its financial results. A bondholder is a creditor of the undertaking.
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