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How to Tell Fake Civil War Ink

Collecting Civil War memorabilia is a popular pasttime in America, especially among the many enthusiastic Civil War reenactors who gather at battlefields each year to recreate those fateful events in American history. Some of the more popular collectibles include letters written home by soldiers and bank notes issued by both the United States and Confederate States. The authenticity of these collectibles can be determined by examining the ink used to write the letters or sign the bank notes.

Things You'll Need

Magnifying glass

Instructions

- 1
  Examine the writing for areas where the letters appear to be burning through the paper. Civil War-era ink contained iron gall, which eventually corrodes and will burn through the paper with a rust-like coloring.
- 2
  Observe the color of the ink. Most ink used in the mid-19th century was not pure black, but a dark blue called India ink. It contains iron gall that causes it to turn brownish red with age. Letters that are pure black with no trace of reddish color at the edges betray a more modern ink.
- 3
  Compare the writing to any machine-printed elements on the paper. This is particularly useful with bank notes. If the ink of the signature matches the ink of the printed material in color, this is a sign that the signature was printed. During the Civil War, only the Confederate 50-cent notes of 1863 and 1864 had printed signatures rather than hand-inked ones.

Collecting Memorabilia