Civil War gold hoax: fake Lincoln draft proclamation published in New York

Background. The Civil War Gold Hoax, also known as the Bogus Proclamation of 1864, was an unsuccessful financial scheme perpetrated by American journalists Joseph Howard Jr. and Francis Mallison. The conspirators aimed to exploit uncertainty about the ongoing war to trigger a sudden financial panic. They hoped investors would abandon Union greenbacks for gold if they thought the administration viewed the war poorly, driving up gold's price.

Publication. On the evening of May 17, a young accomplice delivered forged Associated Press dispatches to several New York City newspapers. The New York Herald initially published the fake proclamation but pulled it when other major papers did not. Consequently, only the New York World and the Journal of Commerce printed the document in their morning editions on May 18, 1864. Editors at these papers realized they had been fooled when no other papers published the announcement.

Investigation. Coincidentally, Lincoln was drafting a genuine proclamation for hundreds of thousands of new soldiers at the same time. Lincoln and his cabinet suspected a leak to the opposition press, as the World and Journal were notorious critics. This suspicion led to widespread arrests among journalists, telegraph operators, and publishers. The arrests were intended to catch the alleged leaker, but suspects were released once the administration confirmed no leak had occurred.

Imprisonment. While the conspirators were imprisoned, Lincoln released a genuine proclamation on July 18 calling for 500,000 new volunteers for the Union army. The genuine proclamation was similar to the fraudulent document the two journalists had fabricated.