A Counterfeiter's Paradise (51 page)

Bank of Boston, 103

Bank of Chambersburg, 145

Bank of Columbia, 102

Bank of New York, 102, 103

Bank of North America, 103

Bank of the United States, 104–5, 106, 110, 130–31, 214, 216, 238

Second, 130–32, 133, 141, 161–63, 165–68, 170, 176, 182, 238, 253

Bank of Vermont, 102

banks, 104–6, 145

authority to create, 214

banning of, 170

charters for, 104, 105, 111, 115, 145, 169, 236, 239

debt and, 130

Federal Reserve, 253

free banking laws and, 169–70

increase in number of, 106, 110, 111, 115, 145, 161, 168, 169–70, 195

Jackson’s view of, 164

national system of, 236–40, 241, 249–50, 252, 253

in New York City, 169, 192–93, 202

Panic of 1819 and, 130, 132

Panic of 1837 and, 169

Panic of 1857 and, 193–94

state, 106–7, 133, 161–65, 167–69, 236–39, 253

unincorporated, 170, 171, 195

wildcat, 170

Bank War, 166–69

barter system, 20, 132

Bedford, Pa., 112, 116, 128, 150–51, 153

Lewis in, 94, 118–19, 120–26, 128, 137–40, 143, 146

Bedford Gazette,
122–23, 126, 136

Beecher, Eliphalet, 69–74, 75, 78

Beecher, Eliphalet, Jr., 71

Bell, Alexander Graham, 235

Bellefonte, Pa., 107–10, 111, 114, 116, 152–56

Bellefonte Patriot,
153, 156, 157

Bennett, Thomas, Jr., 202

Benton, Thomas Hart, 165

Bermuda, 208

Biddle, Nicholas, 161–63, 165–67, 249–50

bills of credit, 4, 7, 103, 104, 134, 168, 214, 251

banknotes vs., 103

Confederate Constitution and, 216

Bloody Run, Pa., 91, 96

Bollan, William, 20

Boston, Mass., 11

Sullivan in, 12–14, 37, 45–46

Boston Courier,
185

Boston -Evening-Post,
20, 34, 69

Boston Gazette,
17, 20, 30, 73

Boston -News-Letter,
21

Boston Post Boy,
39, 40

Boyce, Joseph, 48–51, 73, 78

Boyce, Joseph, Jr., 48–52, 73, 78

Boyd, Ben, 1

Bradbury, Jabez, 32–33, 34

Briggs, George H., 232

Briscoe v. Bank of Kentucky,
236

Britain, British, 3–4, 5, 32, 79–80

Confederacy and, 222

counterfeiting and, 84, 100, 179

Currency Act of 1751 passed by, 80

Currency Act of 1764 passed by, 81

in French and Indian War, 53, 60–63, 79, 80–81

Irish trade and, 27

in King George’s War, 19, 32–37

in War of 1812, 91, 97–100, 107, 109–12, 130, 163

Washington, D.C., invaded by, 111, 130

Brock, Isaac, 97–99, 107

Brockway, William, 248

Brooks, David, 154–55

Bull Run, Second Battle of, 222

Burd, George, 122

Burke, Edmund, 27

Butterworth, Mary Peck, 5

Byron, George Gordon, Lord, 127

Cady, Jedediah, 54

Calaveras River, 189

California, 170, 193, 194, 234, 235

gold rush in, 180, 182–89

gold shipped from, 192–93

Sacramento, 190–91

San Francisco, 188, 189, 234, 241, 242

Camels Hump, 180

Canada, 98, 99, 100, 102, 107–11, 182

counterfeiters in, 100

Cape Breton Island, 19

Carlisle, Pa., 149

Carlisle Republican,
148, 149, 151–52, 157–58, 164

Carpenters’ Hall, 131

Centennial Exhibition, 234–35, 250

Central America,
191–93

Chalker, James S., 232

Chambersburg, Pa., 145–46, 149, 150, 151

Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, 31–32, 36

Charleston, S.C., 220

Chase, Salmon, 199–201, 202, 215–16, 242

antislavery views of, 199, 200, 215

banking reform of, 236–39

Cheves, Langdon, 141, 161, 162

Chicago Tribune,
237

Chile, 187–88

Churchill, Winston, 61

Cicero, 79

Cincinnati, Ohio, 247

Civil War, 105, 175, 176, 179, 197, 200, 203, 204, 218, 221–22, 230, 235–36, 248, 249, 252, 253

anticounterfeiting offensive and, 241

Battle of Antietam, 222, 226

Battle of Fort Sumter, 198–99, 200, 217

Battle of Gaines’ Mill, 204

Battle of Gettysburg, 230

Confederate currency and counterfeit currency during, 7, 176–77, 178–79, 202–12, 218–23, 225–28

end of, 239

espionage in, 241–42, 246

financing of, 200–201, 212, 216

and legal tender issue, 214, 215

national banking system and, 237, 238–39

pillaging by Union soldiers in, 208–9, 210

secession of South, 198, 199, 202, 214

Second Battle of Bull Run, 222

Southern view of, 225–26

Clark, Spencer M., 242

Clark, William, 162

Clarke, Robert, 49–50, 51, 73

class system, 25, 167

Clay, Henry, 164, 166, 167

Clinton, George, 49, 52

coins, coinage, 85, 110–11, 169, 213, 254

banknotes and, 103, 106, 110, 111–12, 130, 131–32, 162

black market in, 110

British limits on, 3, 4

foreign, 3, 102–3

Hutchinson and, 18, 36, 52

Louisbourg reimbursement and, 19

as sacrosanct, 250

scarcity of, 3, 23, 85, 87

and value of money, 22

wealthy and, 18

Colby, Isaac, 200

Colombia, 255

colonies, 3–4, 7, 16, 251

class system in, 25

regional money markets in, 52–53, 102

Commander, Thompson, 29

Committee of Vigilance, 241, 242

Confederate currency, 7, 176–77, 202–3, 217–22, 224–26, 230

counterfeit, 7, 177, 178–79, 203, 204–12, 218–23, 225–28, 229–33

inflation and, 225, 230

shinplasters, 206, 207, 216–17

Treasury notes, 213, 216, 217, 223, 225, 228

Confederate States of America, 198, 201–3, 216

Congress of, 217, 222–23, 225

Constitution of, 216

Treasury of, 216, 220, 223

Congress, 166, 197, 200, 213–15, 236, 240, 252

national banking bill and, 238, 239

Republican control of, 226

Connecticut, 4, 46, 48–50, 66–68, 70, 73, 74, 245

counterfeit currency of, 47

counterfeiting laws in, 74

New Haven, 67, 68, 70, 73

Connelly, John, 135–40, 150–55, 157, 159

Constitution, 87, 91, 103–5, 107, 168, 213–16, 240

and government regulation of currency, 236

secession and, 214

Constitutional Convention, 85–87, 105, 215

Continental Congress, 5, 82–87, 131

continentals, 82–84, 85, 103, 176–77, 179, 215, 240

copper, 19, 52

Corliss steam engine, 234

corn, 3

cotton, 197, 202

smugglers of, 208

counterfeit currency:

altered, 115

Confederate, 7, 177, 178–79, 203, 204–12, 218–23, 225–28, 229–33

of Connecticut, 47

decline in, 249, 251

legality of spending, 39

of New Hampshire, 12–14, 58, 64, 69

of New York, 47, 69

and number of banks and different types of notes, 115, 168, 171, 195, 237–38, 240

quality of, 4

raised, 115

of Rhode Island, 39–42, 44–45, 49, 51–52, 54, 64, 69

spurious, 115

counterfeiters:

banknote engravers’ collaboration with, 196

Bank of the United States and, 168

branding punishment for, 43, 45, 48, 54, 60, 74

counterfeiters (
cont.
)

Canada as haven for, 100

David Lewis,
see
Lewis, David

David Sanford, 66–69

death penalty for, 218, 219, 221

decline of, 249, 251

and forging government vs. bank money, 205–6

hidden identities of, 247–48

informants and, 39, 246–47, 248, 249

Jackson’s pardoning of, 168

Joseph Boyce and Joseph Boyce Jr., 48–52, 73, 78

Mary Peck Butterworth, 5

national currency and, 240, 241

networks of, 123, 206, 241, 247–48, 255

-North-South tensions and, 196–97

Owen Sullivan,
see
Sullivan, Owen

Peter McCartney, 5–6

Philander Noble, 100–102, 106–16, 121, 123, 124, 125, 135, 153, 182

public opinion of, 133, 247

Samuel Curtis Upham,
see
Upham, Samuel Curtis

success and patronage of, 6

in Vermont, 182

Winthrop E. Hilton, 226–27, 228, 229–33

Wood and, 245–49

counterfeiting:

anonymity and, 51

Baker’s crackdown on, 243–44, 245

Bank War and, 167–68

British and, 84, 100, 179

current threats to, 255–56

defining, 39

difficulties of, 14–15

ease of, 2, 4

engravers’ role in, 15–16, 50, 51, 55, 84, 100, 101, 102

golden era of, 2, 87, 235–36

-high-tech measures against, 255–56

in large quantities, suspicion raised by, 12, 15

in Latin America, 255

law enforcement and, 39, 50–51, 52, 162–63, 240–41, 243, 245–46

in North Korea, 255

passers’ role in, 15–16, 50, 51, 55, 196, 206, 208, 246, 247

printers’ role in, 15–16, 50

regional money markets and, 52–53

Revolutionary War and, 84

Secret Service and, 1–2, 6, 245–49, 250, 252, 255

crash of 1929, 253

Crawford, Samuel W., 209

credit, 3–4, 5, 18, 80, 81, 87, 105–6, 111, 130–32, 145, 161, 163, 170, 240, 251, 253

contraction of, 193–94

of federal government, 213, 236, 241

credit, bills of, 4, 7, 103, 104, 134, 168, 214, 251

banknotes vs., 103

Confederate Constitution and, 216

criminals:

arrests of, 50

identification of, 64

jails and, 45

in New York City, 196

prestige accorded to, 133

punishment of, 45

Crosby, Rufus, 113

Cuba, 208

Culpeper, Va., 209–10

Cumberland Valley, 149, 151, 152

currency, 85

coins,
see
coins, coinage

counterfeit,
see
counterfeit currency

debates on, 20–25

dollar unit of, 102

federal regulation of, 5, 236

food commodities as, 3

foreign, 102–3

hard,
see
hard currency

international trade and, 18

national, 2, 213, 215, 236–40, 241, 249–50, 252, 253

paper,
see
paper money

toy money, 250

wampum, 3

Currency Act of 1751, 80

Currency Act of 1764, 81

Daily Richmond Enquirer,
225, 226

Daily Richmond Examiner,
205, 206, 220–21

Davis, Jefferson, 178, 198, 201, 203, 222–23

debt, 4, 18, 20–21, 41, 44–45, 80, 81, 85, 130, 132–33, 141, 165, 177, 252, 254

Declaration of Independence, 82, 91, 256

hundredth anniversary of, 234

De Foreest, Henry, 78

Depression, 253, 254

Detroit, Mich., 98

Doubling Gap, 149–51

Dover, N.Y., 46–48, 50, 70, 71

Dover Money Club, 48, 53, 78

Dover Stone Church, 48

Drenning, William, 122

Dutchess County, N.Y., 44, 45–50

East Mountain, 46

Edison, Thomas, 235

Edwards, Jonathan, 11

Elam, George, 219

Elizabeth City, N.C., 220

Emancipation Proclamation, 222, 226

engravers, 15–16, 50, 51, 55, 84, 100, 101, 102, 217

engraving techniques, 217–18

for banknotes, 195–96

geometric lathes, 229, 231

-high-tech, against counterfeiting, 255–56

intaglio, 255

stone lithography, 217, 227, 229

of Sullivan, 35, 37, 40, 45–46, 195–96

entrepreneurs, 105–6, 163, 170, 210, 235

E. Remington and Sons, 235

espionage, 241–42, 246

Everett, Edward, 96

Fairfowl, James, 187

Fairservice, John, 12–15

Fairservice, Mary, 14

farmers, 36, 41, 44–45, 85, 105, 132, 170, 194

federal government,
see
government, federal

Federal Reserve, 253

Federal Reserve Notes, 254, 256

Findlay, William, 129, 136, 146–49, 151–52, 164

Lewis’s “confession” and, 158–60

Fitch, George Kenyon, 190–91

Fleet, Thomas, 78

food commodities, 3

Forsyth, Benjamin, 109–10

Fort Frédéric, 62

Fort George, 97, 98, 99, 106

Fort Lafayette, 230

Fort Sumter, Battle of, 198–99, 200, 217

France, 32, 79

Confederacy and, 222

in French and Indian War, 53, 60–63, 79, 80–81

in King George’s War, 19, 32–37

Frankenstein
(Shelley), 127

Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper,
178, 192

Franklin, Benjamin, 5, 22–24, 75, 95, 106, 161, 198

fake personas of, 64

“Join, or Die” cartoon of, 53

paper money designed and printed by, 23, 64, 83, 255–56

Sullivan compared with, 63–64

Franklin, James, 64

Franklin Gazette,
146

Franklin Repository,
151

French and Indian War, 53, 60–63, 79, 80–81

Frye, Joseph, 61–62

Gaines’ Mill, Battle of, 204

George II, King, 32

Gettysburg, Battle of, 230

Gillmore, Captain, 31, 32

Gilman, Carty, 62–63

gold, 3, 4, 17, 22–25, 83, 86, 87, 103, 106, 110, 112, 130, 131, 168, 179, 200, 202, 213–16

in California, 180, 182–89

shipped from California, 192–93

as standard, 253–54

see also
coins, coinage

government, federal:

Bank of the United States, 104–5, 106, 110, 130–31, 214, 216, 238

Congress, 166, 197, 200

Continental Congress, 5, 82–87

credit of, 213, 236, 241

Federal Reserve, 253

financial difficulties of, 112, 131, 199

money printing by, and Constitution, 214, 215