Description and research notes
The ten-dollar note of the February 17, 1864 issue, cataloged as T-68 (Criswell 541), was among the final wartime emissions of the Confederate Treasury. Printed in Richmond, Virginia, by Keatinge & Ball of Columbia, South Carolina, it forms part of the most widely recognized Confederate paper-money design family—distinguished by pink underprint, detailed engraving, and complex typography produced under severe wartime constraints.
The central vignette depicts Confederate artillery and cavalry maneuvering on the battlefield, adapted from an original steel engraving used before the war. At lower right appears the portrait of R.M.T. Hunter, Confederate Senator and Secretary of State. The decorative panel on the left displays the word TEN in vertical Roman letters, identifying this as the First Series in Roman Letters variety.
The obligation text—'Two years after the ratification of a treaty of peace between the Confederate States and the United States of America'—captures the speculative financial nature of Confederate wartime currency. Notes of this series were payable in a hypothetical future peace settlement that never materialized.
Serial 2580 and Plate A55 identify this example within its production sequence. Certified PCGS Banknote 62 Uncirculated, it retains crisp original paper, vivid pink tint, and bold hand signatures. As an artifact of Confederate finance, it bridges numismatic study with the broader economic realities of the Civil War.