Consol (short for consolidated) bonds were issued by the U.S. Treasury during the 19th and early 20th Centuries. Used to refinance the national debt, the 41st Congress passed an act in 1870 authorizing three separate consol issues with redemption privileges after ten, fifteen, and thirty years. Unlike traditional debt issuances, consols have no definitive redemption dates. It is from this feature that they are occasionally referred to as "perpetual bonds." They are redeemable at the pleasure of the Treasury Department after a specified date. Several nations have issued sovereign consols. The interest rates on these securities are such that governments have often left consols outstanding for decades.  In 2014, the British government redeemed 4% consols issued to pay for the costs of WWI. The Acts of July 14th, 1870, and January 20, 1871 provided authorization for the issuance of $1 billion of thirty-year consols, exempted from all local, state, and federal taxation. This debt issue were referred to as the Funded Loan of 1907. The Herbstman Collection features the only known examples of registered bonds authorized by the act, and one of two known bearer bonds.