continually provided, so that from an initial million dollars in circulation in July 1861, the amount rose to thirty million before December 1861; to one-hundred million by March 1862; to two-hundred million by August 1862; to perhaps four-hundred and fifty million dollars by December 1862; to seven-hundred million dollars by the autumn of 1863; and to a much larger figure before the end of the war. The individual states and other political bodies copied this policy of issuing irredeemable paper money. Alabama began by issuing a million dollars in notes in February 1861, and added to this amount during each subsequent session of the legislature. The other states followed suit. Cities also sought to replenish their treasuries in the same way. Corporations and other business concerns tried to meet the rising tide of prices with the issue of their individual promissory notes intended to circulate from hand to hand. As a result of this redundancy of the currency, its value collapsed. Gold was quoted at a premium in Confederate notes in April 1861. By the end of that year, a paper dollar was quoted at 90 cents in gold; during 1862 that figure fell to 40 cents; during 1863, to 6 cents; and still lower during the last two years of the war. The downward course of this figure, with occasional recoveries, reflected the popular estimate of the Confederacy's chance of winning independence. The oversupply of currency drove prices to exorbitant heights and disarranged all commerce. Savings in nominal dollars lost 90 percent or more of their value. It affected different classes of commodities differently. Imports like coffee became very expensive, and ersatz substitutes were found (Massey 1952). Confederate asset-price stabilization policies appear to have increased the velocity of circulation, and counterproductively channeled inflationary pressures into other areas of the economy. Three successive monetary reforms encouraged holders of treasury notes to exchange these notes for bonds by imposing deadlines on their convertibility. Confederate efforts aimed at precipitating the conversion of currency into bonds did temporarily suppress currency depreciation. These acts also triggered upsurges in commodity prices, however, because note holders rushed to spend the currency before their exchange rights were reduced. Speculation, prices and hunger Blockade runners made much more profit by importing liquor, fancy dresses, and other luxuries instead of munitions. Tobacco and cotton, which found few foreign buyers owing to the blockade, actually fell in value as quoted