Encased Postage Stamps: The 1862 Money Made of Mail

In 1862 America ran out of small change, so people paid with postage stamps, and the stamps fought back. One salesman sealed them in brass and mica and sold ads on the back. Then Washington stepped in. CHAPTERS 00:00 The Vanishing Change 0:23 Why Everyone Hoarded 1:21 Stamps In Your Pocket 3:00 A Salesman's Patent 4:25 The Blank Brass Back 6:46 A Plan From Washington 7:22 What Was Left 7:57 The Real Lesson SOURCES (read them, don't just trust us) National Postal Museum, Encased Postage Stamps: https://postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibitio... Ephemera Society of America, Encased Postage Stamps: The New Metallic Currency: https://www.ephemerasociety.org/encas... Civil War Monitor, Postal Currency and Postage Stamps: https://www.civilwarmonitor.com/artic... Numismatic News, Numismatic Oddities: How Postage Became Currency in the Civil War: https://www.numismaticnews.net/collec... Smithsonian NMAH, 10 Cent Encased Postage Stamp, United States, 1862 (object record): https://americanhistory.si.edu/collec... Society of Paper Money Collectors, Fractional Currency: A Primer: https://www.spmc.org/collector/fracti... Society of Paper Money Collectors, Happy Birthday Postage and Fractional Currency (quotes Act of July 17, 1862): https://www.spmc.org/blog/happy-birth... Coin World, Encased postage circulated during the Civil War: https://www.coinworld.com/news/precio... Cliff Hoyt, Ayer's Encased Postage: http://www.cliffhoyt.com/encased_post... Antique Trader, How Postage Became Uniquely Collectible Currency During the Civil War: https://www.antiquetrader.com/collect... IMAGE CREDITS (public domain or CC0, via Wikimedia Commons / Internet Archive) A popular guide to minerals - with chapters on t - Wikimedia Commons (NO RESTRICTIONS); Ayer's Cathartic Pills.png - Wikimedia Commons (PD); Boston, one hundred years a city - a collection - Wikimedia Commons (NO RESTRICTIONS); Capitol of the United States in Washington, from - Wikimedia Commons (CC0); City of New Orleans, Municipality 2, fifty-cent - Wikimedia Commons (PD); Confederate 5 and 100 Dollars.jpg - Wikimedia Commons (PD); Gloves MET 11.60.204ab F.jpg - Wikimedia Commons (CC0); Massachusetts 19th Rifle Regiment, Civil War Rec - Wikimedia Commons (PD); NNC-US-1858-1C-Flying Eagle Cent.jpg - Wikimedia Commons (PD); Patent Office, Washington, D.C. - examiners at w - Wikimedia Commons (PD); Singer. Sewing machines in the factory affiche, - Wikimedia Commons (PD); Stamp US 1851 3c closeup.jpg - Wikimedia Commons (PD); Stamp of USSR 1656.jpg - Wikimedia Commons (PD); The Soviet Union 1991 CPA 6298 () counter sheet - Wikimedia Commons (PD); The first lessons in numbers - an illustrated ta - Wikimedia Commons (NO RESTRICTIONS); US Postal Currency 5 cent 1862 1863.jpg - Wikimedia Commons (PD); US-Encased Postage-$0.01.jpg - Wikimedia Commons (PD); US-Encased Postage-$0.10.jpg - Wikimedia Commons (PD); WASHINGTON, George-President (BEP engraved portr - Wikimedia Commons (PD) MUSIC Original score for this video. Found a mistake? Tell us in the comments and we will correct it. #History #WeirdHistory #CivilWar