Greenback (1860s money)
Greenbacks were emergency paper currency issued by the United States during the American Civil War that were printed in green on the back.
[2] A form of fiat money, the notes were legal tender for most purposes and carried varying promises of eventual payment in coin but were not backed by existing gold or silver reserves.
These were nominally payable in silver, but rapidly depreciated due to British counterfeiting and the Continental Congress's difficulty in collecting money from the states.
The southern secession movement worsened the situation, as the government lost substantial tax revenue.
[6] The first measure to finance the war occurred in July 1861, when Congress authorized $50,000,000 (~$1.33 billion in 2023) in Demand Notes.
But public confusion about the legal tender status of United States Notes continued until 1862-03-17, when Congress passed "An Act to authorize the Purchase of Coin, and for other purposes".
Section 2 of that act said: That the Treasury notes heretofore issued under the authority of the acts of July seventeen and August five, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, shall be lawful money and a legal tender in payment of all debts, public and private, within the United States, except duties on imports and interest as aforesaid.This made the United States Notes' two legal tender payment exceptions, import duties & public debt interest payments, clear to the public.
[9] The number of Demand Notes issued was far insufficient to meet the war expenses of the government but even so was not supportable.
The solution came from Colonel Edmund Dick Taylor, an Illinois businessman who was serving as a volunteer officer.
[10] On February 25, 1862, Congress passed the first Legal Tender Act, which authorized the issuance of $150 million (~$3.57 billion in 2023) in United States Notes.
Lincoln, however, humorously remarked, "If you are going to put a legend on the greenbacks, I would suggest that of Peter and Paul, 'Silver and gold I have none, but such as I have I give to thee.
