Fractional Currency notes were issued in the United States from August 21, 1862 through February 15, 1876. Secretary of the Treasury Salmon Chase proposed to authorize postage stamps of some type as a new currency. Much of the public were using stamps because of a severe shortage of coins caused by the Civil War. Originally, fractional notes were issued in perforated sheets like stamps, but heavy demands forced them to be made unperforated. 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. August 21 is the 233rd day of the year (234th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1862 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... February 15 is the 46th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1876 is a leap year starting on Saturday. ... John W. Snow, the current Secretary of the Treasury. ... Salmon Portland Chase (January 13, 1808–May 7, 1873) was an American politician and jurist in the Civil War era who served as Chief Justice of the United States and previously as U.S. Treasury Secretary under Abraham Lincoln. ... This 1974 stamp from Japan depicts a Class 8620 steam locomotive. ... The American Civil War was fought in the United States from 1861 until 1865 between the United States – forces coming mostly from the 23 northern states of the Union – and the newly-formed Confederate States of America, which consisted of 11 southern states that had declared their secession. ...