Two Confederate bills from 1862. Note the statue of George Washington on the top bill, and the portrait of John C. Calhoun on the lower. Also, an idyllic vignette of slaves in the field. This Thursday, June 23, I’ll be speaking about the history of American counterfeiting at the Museum of American Finance. There’ll be crooks, vigilantes, horrifying violence, and more context than you could possibly need on the current debate over the federal debt. Here’s a preview, from the last chapter of Moneymakers: The counterfeiters from America’s past understood the power of confidence better than anyone. They manufactured money backed by nothing but belief, using craftsmanship and charisma to earn their victims’ trust. Today, their legacy can be felt on Wall Street, where people wield complex financial instruments like magic wands, spinning false fortunes out of the ether of global capitalism. These modern moneymakers probably don’t realize they belong to an ancient American tradition—that centuries ago, their forefathers hunched over copperplates with inky fingers, trying to instill inanimate paper with the spark of faith that sustains the nation’s economy to this day.

Two Confederate bills from 1862. Note the statue of George Washington on the top bill, and the portrait of John C. Calhoun on the lower. Also, an idyllic vignette of slaves in the field.

This Thursday, June 23, I’ll be speaking about the history of American counterfeiting at the Museum of American Finance. There’ll be crooks, vigilantes, horrifying violence, and more context than you could possibly need on the current debate over the federal debt. Here’s a preview, from the last chapter of Moneymakers:

The counterfeiters from America’s past understood the power of confidence better than anyone. They manufactured money backed by nothing but belief, using craftsmanship and charisma to earn their victims’ trust. Today, their legacy can be felt on Wall Street, where people wield complex financial instruments like magic wands, spinning false fortunes out of the ether of global capitalism. These modern moneymakers probably don’t realize they belong to an ancient American tradition—that centuries ago, their forefathers hunched over copperplates with inky fingers, trying to instill inanimate paper with the spark of faith that sustains the nation’s economy to this day.
This post has 2 notes.
  1. tarnoff posted this