Certificate, "Confederate States of America... Loan... One Thousand Dollars...," March 25, 1863

To help raise money, the Confederate States of America issued bonds. Early in the Civil War, these bonds seemed a worthwhile, even patriotic, investment to the Southerners who bought them. The war was going well for the Confederacy and the bonds promised a tidy profit in interest. At war's end, Southerners were left holding now worthless Confederate bonds.