HISTORICAL MOMENTS BY GEORGE CHEVALLIER

Civil War Store Card Script



During the Civil War, hard currency was hard to come by. The United States had tried to overcome this by issuing what is known as “fractional currency”. This was paper money issued in denominations of 5, 10, 25 and 50 cents. While this is uncommon, it is available in various prices depending on the condition. This was unhandy to use owing to its small size. It was around 3 ½ by 2 inches and had different sizes depending on the issue and denomination. The United States also issued their first paper money in 1862 in the regular denominations of One Dollar, etc.

Also during the War years, local merchants issued their own paper money. This is known as Civil War Script. The one pictured here was issued on Nov. 17, 1862, by the merchants Alexander Toadvine and Thomas Vincent. Alexander “A.G.” Toadvine became the first mayor of Salisbury in 1888. This particular note is listed in the reference volume “Money and Banking in Maryland”. published by the Maryland Historical Society in 1996. It is listed as Rarity-7, which designates that there are only 1-5 examples known to exist.

The script was used to give change to a customer due to the shortage of hard currency. It was redeemable at the place of issue, although there may have been agreements by which local merchants would accept other local script in trade. It was not money and could not be spent as such at any location outside the local area.

The only merchants in Salisbury that issued such script were J. E. Parsons, who owned a general store, Joseph Hopkins Tarr, a lawyer who was instrumental in the forming of Wicomico County, and the partners of Toadvine and Vincent, who owned a general store. All examples of notes from Salisbury are Rarity-7.

Any Civil War script is quite rare today and commands high prices if it ever comes on the market.