A fractional currency shield is a printed "shield" on which were placed images of 39 different

fractional currency __NOTOC__ Fractional currency, also referred to as shinplasters, was introduced by the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government following the outbreak of the American Civil War, Civil War. These low-Denomination ...

notes. Produced in 1866 and 1867 by the

United States Treasury Department The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States. It is one of 15 current U.S. government departments. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and ...

, the shields were sold to banks for $4.50 each, for the purpose of having images of genuine notes available for use in detecting counterfeits. The 39

notes Note, notes, or NOTE may refer to: Music and entertainment * Musical note, a pitched sound (or a symbol for a sound) in music * ''Notes'' (album), a 1987 album by Paul Bley and Paul Motian * ''Notes'', a common (yet unofficial) shortened versi ...

were printed from the original plates on one side only, the other side left blank, or with the printed word "specimen". Fractional Specimen Shield

The shields were typically framed by the purchaser and hung on the wall for the convenience of bank employees. Sales were reported to be $14,683.50. Notes appearing on the shields were from the first, second and third issues of Fractional Currency, of the five different issues made. The printed shield portion exists in three colors, grey (the most common), pink and green. Many Specimen notes of the second and third fractional issue are printed on captured

Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

paper that was taken in 1862 by the Union ship Mercedita from the Confederate blockade runner

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

(later, USS Bermuda). The paper was subsequently taken to

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

and sold by the US Government. The paper, produced in Great Britain was watermarked CSA (Confederate States America), and originally due to be printed as Confederate paper notes. Many of the specimen notes contain a partial, or complete imprints of the watermark. Examples of the blank paper, with the CSA

watermark A watermark is an identifying image or pattern in paper that appears as various shades of lightness/darkness when viewed by transmitted light (or when viewed by reflected light, atop a dark background), caused by thickness or density variations i ...

in full and half sheets exist. Many individual specimen notes (printed on one side only) exist after being removed from shields.

References

{{reflist Money forgery