The Daily Omnivore

The Confederate States of America dollar was first issued into circulation in April 1861, when the Confederacy was only two months old, and on the eve of the outbreak of the Civil War. At first, Confederate currency was accepted throughout the South as a medium of exchange with high purchasing power. As the war progressed, however, confidence in the ultimate success waned, the amount of paper money increased, and their dates of redemption were extended further into the future.

The inevitable result was depreciation of the currency, and soaring prices characteristic of inflation. For example, by the end of the war, a cake of soap could sell for as much as $50 and an ordinary suit of clothes was $2,700. Near the end of the war, the currency became practically worthless as a medium of exchange. When the Confederacy ceased to exist as a political entity at the end of the war, the money lost all value as fiat currency.

During World War II in the Philippines, the occupying Japanese government issued fiat currency in several denominations; this is known as the Japanese government-issued Philippine fiat peso, or simply the Japanese peso. The Japanese-sponsored Second Philippine Republic under Jose P. Laurel outlawed possession of guerilla currency, and declared a monopoly on the issuance of money, so that anyone found to possess guerrilla notes could be arrested.

The Filipinos called the fiat peso ‘Mickey Mouse money,’ because it was similar to play money and next to worthless. Many survivors of the war tell stories of going to the market laden with suitcases or ‘bayong’ (native bags made of woven coconut or buri leaf strips) overflowing with the Japanese-issued bills. In 1944, a box of matches cost more than 100 Mickey Mouse pesos.