With the exceptions of red overprinting and the change in the expiration date of redemption, this1864 note is identical in design to North Carolina's 1862 fifty-cent issue. By 1864 North Carolinians and their fellow southerners were struggling to cope with soaring prices for food and clothing. Given the high rate of inflation that gripped the economy, it is surprising that North Carolina's government would elect in its last authorization of currency to produce only fractional currencies, such as this fifty-cent note, rather than notes of far larger face values.