FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Media Relations, Scripophily.com
Tel: 703-579-4209; e-mail: media@scripophily.com

Scripophily.com adds archive of Scarce Confederate
War Bonds to Website’s Historic Offerings

Confederate Bonds are an important part of U.S. Financial History

Scripophily.com now offers over 9,000 different items

WASHINGTON, DC (November 6, 2003) - Scripophily.com ^®, the Internet’s largest buyer and seller of collectible stock and bond certificates, has recently acquired a large collection of authentic Bonds issued by the Confederate States of America which is shown at ConfederateBonds.com.  “With the addition of this collection, we will now have over 100 different types of Confederate Bonds issued from 1861 to 1865 and ranging in price from $89.95 to $895.95” according to Scripophily.com’s founder and CEO, Bob Kerstein.  “We are very fortunate to be able to offer this historic Civil War collection” Kerstein added.

The bonds include images of Stonewall Jackson, Jefferson Davis, George Washington, Old Confederate Sailors, CSA Cabinet Members and many others.  Although most of the bonds were issued from Richmond, Virginia there are some that were issued in Montgomery, Alabama prior to the confederacy moving their capital to Richmond.  All of the bonds are hand signed, many of which by Robert Tyler  as CSA Registry of the Treasury, and the son of U.S. President John Tyler.

Confederate Bonds are an important part of History.  As with any war, the Confederate States of America (CSA) needed to raise money to finance their war effort.  The Confederacy first resorted to loans guaranteed by cotton, and for a time their loans sold well; but when cotton was no longer able to leave the country particularly after losing the Battle of Vicksburg and preventing the use of the Mississippi River for transporting goods, there was difficulty in making news loans and making payments on the older ones. The workmanship on the bonds and currency was usually quite poor, and counterfeits in the North were easily made, so that the South was swamped with fakes. The market value of the bonds declined steadily with the fortunes of the Confederate arms, and after the war it became, entirely worthless. Many of the bonds were destroyed during the war, and much of what made it through the war was destroyed afterwards since they had no economic value.  This is what makes the hobby of collecting these bonds so challenging and exciting.

Scripophily [scrip-ah-fil-ly] is the hobby’s name of collecting old stock and bond certificates.  Historical certificates which otherwise have no value as financial claims, are bought for their artistic and historical value by collectors. Values range from a few dollars to more than $100,000 for the rarest.  Tens of thousands of Scripophily buyers worldwide include individuals decorating their home, corporate gift buyers, and serious collectors.  Due to electronic trading, a very small percentage of modern stock purchases are made generating a paper certificate due to the high costs and inefficiencies.  Furthermore, many stock exchanges worldwide no longer require companies to issued physical stock certificates.

Scripophily.com LLC, The Gift of History, is a leading provider of collectible stock and bond certificates and other old paper items and frequently has items on loan for display in the Smithothium’s  Museum of Financial History in New York.  The company also offers an old stock research service at OldCompany.com.  Scripophily.com was founded by Bob Kerstein who has more than 25 years of senior management experience in the Cellular, Cable TV, Satellite, Internet, Professional Sports and Entertainment Industries.

Scripophily.com ^® has experienced over 9 Million page views on its websites during the past 12 months. There are over 9,000 different selections including categories such as Frauds, Scandals, Bankruptcies, Dot Coms, as well as the more traditional areas such as Railroads, Telephones, Entertainment, Sports, Manufacturing, Mining, Utilities, Oil and Gas, Retail, Tobacco, Food, Banks, Insurance and many others.

For more information on Scripophily.com®, visit www.scripophily.com,  ConfederateBonds.com or call 1-703-579-4209.