History of Counterfeit Money

Counterfeit money actually has a very long history,developed and counterfeiting flourished, especially
which means the concept is not really all that new.within America where counterfeit money was more
Currency has been around for a long time and withcommon than genuine money. Counterfeiters had
currency comes greed. They say that money is thebecome so skilled that when the first federal coins
root of all evil and counterfeiting is definitely not anwere issued by the U.S. government in the 1780's, they
exception. It involves creating artificial money forhad the dies cut by an ex-counterfeiter in order to
financial gain and deceives others in making themdeter the practice, but it was during the Civil War that
believe that it is real. It contributes to inflation that hurtscounterfeiting flourished once more because the United
the pocket books of people all over the world, itStates government issued paper money for the first
damages economies, and it hurts the reputations oftime.
the central banks of countries that are innocentAs a result of this counterfeiting, the Secret Service
because they are not the ones creating the fake cash.was developed just to enforce the counterfeiting laws.
That is why governments impose harsh penaltiesTheir job was to find the counterfeiters before the
against those caught making fake money.money ever made it into the money supply. Eventually,
But exactly how long has counterfeiting money beenthe Secret Service's operations expanded to include
around? Well, it is true to say that it has been aroundthe protection of the president, which is on a
about as long as money has been around. But howcompletely different spectrum from deterring
long has legitimate money been around? Well, it hascounterfeiting, which was an operation conducted by
been around approximately 2,700 years. Before that,the Treasury.
our ancestors were trading sheep and cattle to getHowever, it was the late twentieth century that
what they needed. They worked to acquire the thingsbrought about machinery such as color copiers and
they had, but money was not their compensation. Theirother electronic devices that made counterfeiting
compensation was things needed in everyday living.easier. It is estimated that nearly $10 billion in counterfeit
The introduction of money changed everything,bills were circulated between 1990 and 1995. That is
including how honestly some people made their living.why the United States began making changes to their
Money became the way in which people acquiredbills in 1996, beginning with the $100 bill. The United
things, therefore things such as poverty worsened.States Treasury believes that the new designs on the
Historybills make counterfeiting almost impossible, but with
It was approximately 700 B.C. that real currency madeeach change it is just a matter of time before
its debut in the form of coins. It was within a hundredcounterfeiters find new ways to duplicate the bills.
years of coins being introduced as currency thatThat is why the governments all over the world are
counterfeiting began. With it, the punishments began asimposing harsher penalties such as 15 years in prison
well. Many cultures imposed death upon those caughton top of fines and restitution for the damage caused.
counterfeiting coins. The practice wasn't very difficultThey have also developed advanced methods to
since the fake coins could very easily be made oftrack down those creating counterfeit bills. In the end,
metals that held no value, but looked like the real thing.the counterfeiters must know that they will get caught.
But it was in 1650 A.D. that paper money was