Greenbacks were paper currency issued by the
Union government from 1862 to 1865, during the
American Civil War. Issued in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 dollars, they were legal tender but were not backed by gold or silver. The obverse of the banknotes was printed in green, black and red, while the reverse was printed in green, giving the notes their popular name of "greenbacks". They were signed by
Lucius E. Chittenden,
Register of the Treasury, and
Francis E. Spinner,
Treasurer of the United States.