50 CENT THIRD SPINNER TYPE 2 PMG 62 FRACTIONAL CURRENCY Start Price USD 0.03 Current Price USD 350.00 Time Left - Bid Count 20 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Sunday, August 24, 2008 End Time Wednesday, September 03, 2008 Location east coast See more about '50 CENT THIRD SPINNER TYPE 2 PMG 62 FRACTIONAL CURRENCY' Description Magical gem fit for the finest collection. Back image at http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll320/08833/Scan10469.jpg United States Fractional Currency notes were issued by the U.S. Government during and after the U.S. Civil War due to the hoarding and shortage of coins in gold, silver and copper in denominations of 3, 5, 10, 15, 25 and 50 cents.These notes were in use until 1876 and were redeemable by the U.S. Postal Office at face value in postage stamps. A controversy happened on the third issue of the 5 Cent Notes, when Spencer M. Clark the first superintendent of the National Currency Bureau (now the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing) had his portrait printed on the fractional note, a practice barred by law (the currency can portray notable U.S. citizens only after at least two years have followed the subject's death.) Fractional Currency notes were issued from August 21, 1862 through February 15, 1876. U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase proposed to authorize postage stamps of some type as a new currency. Much of the public were using stamps in lieu of change due to a severe shortage of coins. The post office did not like selling stamps for currency and they did not provide refunds for soiled stamps. Congress and President Lincoln approved the Postage Currency Act on July 17, 1862, which authorized an issue of 5, 10, 25, and 50 cent notes. The 1st Issues became known as Postage Stamp Currency because they bore facsimiles of the then current 5 and 10 cent postage stamps. Postage Currency (1st Issue) were never legal tender but could be exchanged for United States Notes in $5 lots and receivable in payment of all dues to the United States, up to $5. In the first few months of production, the sheets were perforated like stamps. These sheets were sold to banks and the public in sheets and you could tear off the notes needed with ease. The perforating machine could not keep up with the heavy demand so the banknote company started producing plain sheets that were cut with scissors. In 1863, Secretary Chase asked for a new Fractional Currency that was harder to counterfeit than the Postage Currency. The new Fractional Currency notes were different from the 1862 Postage Currency issues. They were more colorful with printing on the reverse. Fractional currency was succeeded by postal notes that were issued on Monday, September 3, 1883. Francis E. Spinner From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia     Francis Elias Spinner Francis Elias Spinner (January 21, 1802 - December 31, 1890) was a U.S. Representative from New York. Born in Mohawk, German Flatts, New York, Spinner was educated by his father. He served an apprenticeship at both harness making and candy making. He engaged in mercantile pursuits in 1824. He entered the State militia and was subsequently promoted to the rank of major general. He was appointed deputy sheriff in 1829. Sheriff of Herkimer County 1834-1837. He was appointed one of the commissioners for the construction of the State lunatic asylum at Utica in 1838. He engaged in banking as cashier and later president of the Mohawk Bank. State inspector of turnpikes. He served as commissioner and supervisor of schools. He was appointed auditor and deputy naval officer in charge of the port of New York in 1845 and served four years. Spinner was elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-fourth Congress and as a Republican to the Thirty-fifth and Thirty-sixth Congresses (March 4, 1855-March 3, 1861). He served as chairman of the Committee on Accounts (Thirty-sixth Congress). He was not a candidate for renomination in 1860 to the Thirty-seventh Congress. He was appointed by President Lincoln as Treasurer of the United States and served from March 16, 1861, until his resignation on July 1, 1875. He successfully urged the employment of women in the Treasury Department. He died in Jacksonville, Florida, December 31, 1890. He was interred in Mohawk Cemetery, Mohawk, New York.                                                                                                     Francis E. Spinner at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_E._Spinner" Place a Bid!