Funny Money? Hah!

It was passed down through the generations in neatly tied packets--wrinkled currency stiff with age, smelling faintly of the lemon verbena that scented great-grandmother's chiffonier. "Save your Confederate money, son," the vainglorious slogan insisted. "The South will rise again." It took a century and a Southerner in the White House, but the time has come. With chitlin chic upon us, once worthless Confederate bills have become a gold mine for Rebel diehards.

The largest market is in the North.

Yankee collectors have driven up the price of the 72-odd Confederate curren cies issued between 1861 and 1864. A $50 note issued in Alabama in 1861 can fetch up to $1,000, and a $5 bill from Richmond may bring up to $900. Particularly in demand are $100 notes depicting slaves hoeing cotton. Proving that more than one peanut farmer knows how to exploit his roots, a goober grower from Virginia enticed a collector into shelling out $10,000 for an 1861 Virginia $500 note.

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