On August 12, 1862, he received a patent for a “Design for Encasing Government Stamps” to be used as currency. US #69 – an 1861 12¢ WashingtonĪmong those looking for a solution was businessman John Gault. As stamps became an accepted form of currency, several new ideas developed. On July 17, 182, they passed a law that would allow postage stamps to be used to pay off debts to the government under $5. US #68 – an 1861 10¢ WashingtonĮventually, the government officially acknowledged the use of postage stamps as payment. But the resulting wear and tear made it difficult for postal clerks to tell unused stamps from those that had been washed for reuse. Soon people were buying a dollar’s worth of stamps and using them as change instead. Since much of what people needed cost less than a dollar, they found themselves faced with an unusual dilemma: how to pay for things without using their precious coins. Eventually, small change vanished completely, and greenbacks were the only currency being used. US #67 – an 1861 5¢ Jeffersonīy 1862, greenbacks were being used more frequently, as coins disappeared from circulation. Since the notes had no metal money behind them as security, people began to hoard their gold and silver coins. Known as greenbacks (because the back sides were printed in green), they were initially redeemable in coins, but as the war raged on, they became merely promises of the US government to pay. ![]() US #63 – an 1861 1¢ Franklin stamp that would have been encasedīack in 1861, the US began printing paper notes to finance the war. Among the most hoarded items of the day – coins. Many people began conserving their resources as they didn’t know how much longer the war might last. On August 12, 1862, John Gault received a patent for a design to encase postage stamps to use as currency.īy early 1862, the US was fully engulfed in the Civil War. ![]() ![]() US #EP15 – an encased US #65 in an Ayer’s Sarsaparilla case
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