Those Who Made Counterfeit Money, and Those Who Pursued Them

Course number: C10

Supervised by: Mitsuru Hayama

Beyond the text: 10 exercises · 2 coins · 10 readings · 1 references　How reading times are calculated

You will also understand

• You can explain what today's anti-forgery measures are actually protecting.
• Can discuss the lineage of the protectors (masters of machinery, whistleblowers, modern designers) by citing key figures.
• Can discuss Operation Bernhard, including its dual nature of perpetration and victimization.

You can start this course without reading any other course.

Also worth reading, to see the connections (optional)

• How Were Coins Made?
  What you learn: You can tell striking from casting by the look of a finished coin.
  The text refers to this course in section 1.

If you want to know more about checking sources (optional)

• Is It Really True? Checking History
  We re-examine the origins of money and famous anecdotes, comparing them with historical records and actual artifacts.

Assessment

10 exercises in this course (7 check, 0 compare, 3 written). Progress is recorded by self-assessment.

1. How anti-counterfeiting technique advancedThe aim of anti-forgery has always been to spare the checking. Today's devices are invisible to the eye.
2. The New Government Minted Them, Too — The Two Definitions of a Counterfeit Coin"Counterfeit" has two definitions, quality and authority. Law defines by authority; the receiver cares about quality.
3. Counterfeiting becomes a tool of politicsForgery makes even the genuine suspect. It is at once the making of a fake and the killing of the real.
4. Newton as the pursuerOnly the caught forgers leave records. So the surviving record cannot tell us the rate of success.
5. Until the Machine Took Root — Varin and the ArtisansMilled coinage, which entered Paris in 1553, became widespread in 1640, 87 years later. The enemies of security technology were not just counterfeiters.
6. The Governor Who Made the Accusation — Masayoshi Matsukata and the Counterfeit Notes of ChikuzenIt was a single prefectural governor who exposed the domain's counterfeiting. Twelve days later, the domains were abolished and prefectures established. There is an order to the executioners.
7. Those Ordered to Counterfeit — The Ambiguity of Operation BernhardJewish prisoners in concentration camps were forced to make counterfeit notes in one of the largest counterfeiting operations. The perpetrators' tools and the victims were one and the same.
8. Modern Designers — The Front Line of an Anonymous StruggleHelical ridges, micro-lettering, and a three-layer structure. Modern pursuers win the battle through design, before an incident occurs.

• Edo, the Kinza　Japan　The upheaval at the end of the shogunate and the counterfeit coin　1868–1869
  Section 2. A scene where the account books are opened, revealing that the new government also minted low-quality currency.
• The Kenmu Restoration　Japan　1334–1335　Nijo-gawara, Kyoto
  §3. A lampoon in which forged imperial edicts come second on the list.
• From reconstruction to the palm of the hand　Japan　2021　the Mint
  §1. Today's anti-forgery measures. Note "unreadable by the naked eye."
• The birth of the yen　Japan　1872　Frankfurt
  The scene of ordering precise printing technology from abroad as a countermeasure to forged notes.
• The louis d'or and machine striking　France　1640–1672　The Paris mint
  Section 5. The eighty-seven-year internal front from 1553 to 1640: another enemy of the art of defense.
• Tokyo, Takanawa　Japan　The upheaval at the end of the shogunate and the counterfeit coin　1869–1871
  Section 6. A record of accusation, read with the restraint of "I will not call it karma."
• A history of false money　Overview: the world　AD 1942　Counterfeit Pounds Printed in the Camp
  Section 7. The strategy where the instrument of harm and the victim were one and the same.
• The Tester　Greece　375/4 BC　The money-changer's table in the Agora
  This is one of the oldest examples of the pursuers' system being codified into law. The articles stipulate everything from seating arrangements to fifty lashes for neglecting one's duties—please note the level of detail.
• The republic and the escudo (2)　Portugal　1925　A printing works in London
  This was a case where what was forged was not the banknote itself, but the authority to order its printing. Please consider at what point a banknote, produced with genuine plates and paper through the official process, becomes a counterfeit.
• Infalsificables　Mexico　1916　Carranza Government
  A paper currency named "Unforgeable" fell to one-hundredth of its value in six months. This serves as a confirmation that the technology to prevent counterfeiting and the power to protect value are two different things.

• Isaac Newton, Warden and Master of the Royal Mint 1696-1727 — The Royal Mint Museum　A primary account of the Great Recoinage of 1696. Newton became Warden of the Mint in 1696, and Master of the Mint from 1699 until his death (1727). He emphasized the accuracy of weight and fineness, and completed the recoinage in 3 years.

The books and materials referred to in this course.