Greenbacks and the Cost of the Civil War

The financial issues related to bimetallism (gold vs silver base for currency) and paper money ("greenbacks" vs currency based on gold or silver) were actively discussed in the late 19th century. Sound Currency, a semi-monthly publication of the Sound Currency Committee of the Reform Club, was a vehicle for many articles on these issues. "Greenbacks and the Cost of the Civil War", by Wesley C. Mitchell was the featured article in Vol. IV, No. 8 (April 15, 1897) of the publication. The article was "Reprinted, by permission, from the 'Journal of Political Economy', University of Chicago, March, 1897".

The booklet, which measures approximately 6 x 8 ¾ inches, contains 16 pages of text and data printed on a semi-gloss paper. There are no covers. There is an approximatelly 1 ¼ inch tear on the outer edge of the first page. The pages are lightly tanned, but the printing is clear and easily read. The overall condition of the booklet is very good.

The pictures accompanying this description show the first/title page of the booklet (which includes a pertinent quotation from Senator John Sherman on January 8, 1863 and the table of Contents for the article) and the first page of the article's text.

Wesley Clair Mitchell (August 5, 1874 – October 29, 1948) was an American economist known for his empirical work on business cycles and for guiding the National Bureau of Economic Research in its first decades. The currency question facing the US in the 1890s was the choice between alternative monetary standards: inconvertible paper, gold monometallism and gold/silver bimetallism. Mitchell's thesis, published as A History of Greenbacks, considered the consequences of the inconvertible paper regime established by the Union in the Civil War. However this, and the follow-up study Gold Prices and Wages Under the Greenback Standard, transcended conventional monetary history and provided a comprehensive quantitative account of the behavior of the US economy in the recent past.