Kolbe & Fanning Numismatic Booksellers have announced the publication of Thian’s Masterpiece and the Early Literature of Confederate Paper Money, by David F. Fanning. This publication traces the development of the study of the Treasury Notes issued by the Confederate States of America and outlines the literary history of the subject. Beginning with Thomas Addis Emmet’s 1867 articles in the American Journal of Numismatics, Fanning discusses the various publications devoted to the collecting and study of Confederate paper money in the 19th century, culminating with the publication in the early 20th century of Raphael P. Thian’s The Currency of the Confederate States of America. In addition to the regular edition of Fanning’s study, a deluxe portfolio edition has been prepared.
The Currency of the Confederate States of America is a very rare publication that combines Thian’s most thorough treatment of the subject with an album of around 300 actual specimens of Confederate currency. Very few copies remain intact today, with many having been broken up over the years and the notes sold individually. When an incomplete copy became available, the idea was formed to make this publication better known to the collectors of today by creating a leaf book.
Twenty-four copies of Fanning’s study have been bound in a custom-made portfolio, each of which also includes one original leaf from an incomplete copy of Thian’s The Currency of the Confederate States of America. Some of these leaves include the original specimens of Confederate paper money that Thian mounted to them, while other leaves are text only.
Fanning’s study can be purchased on its own for $25 plus $5 domestic postage. Only 100 copies have been printed, each numbered and signed by the author, with 24 of them reserved for inclusion in the portfolios.
Kobe & Fanning is a Numismatic Bookseller. Visit the website here.
For more information on the numismatic history of the USA in the 19th and early 20th century read our article The Monetary History of the USA Part 1 and Part 2.
On Youtube you can find a documentary on the American Civil War.
