PMG GEM UNC 65 Confederate States $5 Chemicograph Banknote Civil War Paper Money
This impression was made from an original plate which had been produced in England for use by the Confederate States of America on the 1864 issue. Those plates were intercepted by Union naval forces enforcing a blockade on southern ports during the War. Eventually reprints were made, with this example attributed to Philip Chase circa 1948-49.
Chase's first advertisements appeared in The Numismatist in 1949. Chemicographic Backs are described in detail in Confederate Numismatica 2018 Supplement One by Peter Bertram. The fronts of the 1864 Confederate Treasury notes were so similar to those of 1863 that new reverse plates were needed and ordered from England. The 1864 plain designs unfortunately lost the counterfeit deterring value of the distinctive Chemicograph designs.But a few of the Chemicograph plates did somehow survive and were used to produce four printings starting circa 1879 and into the 1950s. Some of these have recently been found and submitted for authentication and grading. A great investment and awesome piece of history.