How did Confederate money derive its value at the beginning of the Civil War?

Question

After the Confederacy started printing money what backed it? Gold? Cotton? Anything? How did one turn in US dollars and get Confederate dollars in 1861-62? Was inflation rampant in the early days of the Confederacy?

Answer 1

What backed confederate money was the war itself...the making of, rations, uniforms, guns and cannons.Such industry added on to the agricultural backbone of the south and made the confederate dollar moderatley strong. I'm not sure if you turned in money but you simply exchanged it in money transactions and payed the difference with your change...or lack thereof....Inflation was rampant and became rediciulous towards the end of the war.

Answer 2

The confederate currency that was introduced was individually backed by each state itself. Each State in the confederacy had it's own currency. If you had been paid as a Virginia soldier in Virginia Money and were then transferred to another state your money would need to be exchanged. The Confederate Government did have a large amount of gold which is believed to have disapeared after the fall of Richmond. A book was written linking Confederate gold to Jesse James and says the gold may be hidden as all the money that The James' and Younger's stole is belived to be. You can also search the Knights of the Golden Circle it also has links to where the Confederate gold may have ended up.