T-10 PF-12 State II 1861 Confederate Paper Money - PMG Very Fine 20 - "es"

Description

T-10 PF-12. State II. 1861 .00 CSA Currency. Commerce to the left; Liberty and American Eagle with Shield, center. Issued from July 25, 1861 through November 2, 1861. Large 10 upper left. Thin paper. "for" printed over "Treasr". "es" after "all" in the clause upper left which is a remnant of an older clause this never was printed. Serial number 101216. Plen A.
Very Scarce variety and plate state.
PMG Very Fine 20!
"Pencil annotation" - I cannot find it. Could be a mistake by PMG calling the "es" an annotation which actually is original to the plate. Fully framed on three sides. Nice color. Great presentation for the grade.
Genuine.
This was the first issued by the Confederacy that did not bear interest. The center vignette represents Liberty with an eagle and the 1
st
National flag of the Confederacy. In the lower left corner is a vignette representing Hope. The note is dated July 25, 1861. Receivable in payment for all dues except export dues, and fundable in Confederate States stock bearing 8% interest. The B plate version of this note is actually part of the group of notes that was first issued from Richmond. B plate notes were issued first, followed by C plate notes. The A plate notes were to have a D plate letter, but after the failure of the Southern Bank Note Company to deliver some notes on schedule, these later T-10s were assigned the A plate letter.
It was during this issue that the Confederate Treasury recognized that the actual Register and Treasurer could not possibly sign all of the notes. They enlisted substitute signers, and changed the notes to say “for Register” and “for Treasr”. As this change was made after the printing of these note commenced, some that were issued had “for” written by hand, while most had “for” printed. Early B and C plate T-10s with “for” written are incredibly rare. Beware of fakes. “A” plate T-10s with a written “for” are easily found.
This type comes on thick bond paper, which did not wear well. The B, C and some A plate letter varieties all come on this paper, and T-10 PF-1 through PF-10 inclusive have serial numbers written in brown ink. The brown ink issues do not constitute a different variety. The use of thin paper first appears with the A plate, which also comes on thick bond paper. These A plate notes have the serial numbers in red.
Historically, some collectors used the size of the upper left “10” as the primary indicator of variety. However, with the exception of large and small “10s” on the A plate, it is not necessary to figure out the minute differences in sizes of the “10s” as the varieties are identified by other means (see table and figures below). There are no more varieties beyond what is documented here due to denomination sizes. B and C plate letter notes have a large “10” upper left, and A plate letter notes either have several sizes of the 10 upper left which are included within the variety table below.
Another historical variety differentiator was the number of stars in the flag on the shield. However, there are no different varieties due to differing numbers of stars in the flag, nor were stars added as more states seceded as some have postulated. The different number of stars was caused by too much ink on the plate.
There are several very rare varieties including two misspelled “reoeivable” error T-10s.
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.
B and C plate letter notes are more difficult to obtain than T-11 as a type, and they are very rare above VG. “A” plate T-10s may be found in grades up to Fine fairly easily, and are very hard to find in VF. They are almost unobtainable in VF-XF or better. Many T-10s offered are overgraded. This is due to the fact that nice examples are rarely seen, and that thick bond paper retains good body all the way down to Good. If the note has more than eight cross body folds, it isn’t VF. If it has more than a few tiny edge splits and/or cracking on the creases, then the note is not Fine.
T-10s circulated heavily. Hence, few well cut examples survive. Those that do command a premium. T-10s are one of my favorite types due to all of the intrigue, rarity and varieties encountered within this type.
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. Likewise, color is important. These factors can affect the value of a note by 50%, 2-1 or even 3-1, e.g., an AU 58 (PPQ or not) T-20 1861 CSA note trimmed into the margin is worth between 0 and 0. The same grade, AU 58 (PPQ or not), with a full frame and good color/inking is worth something like 0 to 00 depending on eye appeal. 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. I’d expect either the grading services or another party to do the same for paper money. If you are just buying the number on the holder for the best price, you may well be buying low end notes for the grade!
Pierre Fricke.  Immediate Past President of the Society of Paper Money Collectors;  Professional Numismatists Guild (PNG); Professional Currency Dealers Association (PCDA); ANA, EAC, etc...
BuyVintageMoney.
Author of the standard guide book to Confederate money - Collecting Confederate Money Field Edition 2014.
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