$1 1862 Richmond Virginia VA Obsolete Currency Treasury Bank Note Bill

This $1 1862 Richmond, Virginia Treasury Note (with

serial # 87246) is a quintessential example of "obsolete currency," a term used by numismatists to describe paper money issued by state governments, private banks, and local municipalities before the establishment of a unified federal currency system. Issued during the height of the American Civil War, these notes were authorized by the Commonwealth of Virginia to address the critical shortage of circulating specie (gold and silver coins) caused by the wartime hoarding of precious metals and the Union blockade. The 1862 $1 Virginia Treasury Note was authorized by an act of the Virginia General Assembly passed on March 14, 1862. The notes were printed in Richmond, which served both the capital of Virginia and the capital of the Confederate States of America. The primary printer for this specific issue was the firm of Hoyer & Ludwig, a prominent lithographic company in Richmond that produced a significant portion of early Confederate and state-level paper money.