Counterfeiting in America:the history of an American way to wealth
Counterfeiting has been woven into the cloth of American history since the colonial days, and was a difficult habit to kick. When coins had to be shipped all the way from England, it was second nature for Americans to want to make their own coins. Along with the love of “free trade and equal opportunity” came a sense of independence. The first mint was the illegalBoston mint in 1652. As the American frontier expanded, “the coin-starved pioneer communities” were “’forced’ into counterfeiting by necessity.” People were upset about the price of money, and wanted cheaper money. Lots of people produced counterfeit money.
Most banks before the Civil War were banks of issue. Paper money drove coins out, and became the main currency of the nineteenth century. “When nearly every citizen thought it was his continental right to issue money, successful trade was possible at all” (Hepburn, Barton. A History of Currency in the United States. (rev. ed., New York: 1915), p.102)
Common were reports of “factories” of paper counterfeiters (p.81). Wild cat banks also produced bogus money. The New York Times stated that “out of thirteen hundred and eighty-nine banks in the United States, only two hundred and fifty-three have escaped the attempts at imitations by one or another species of frauds.”
Famous counterfeiters included “Bloody Jack” Sturdevant, John Murrell, “one of the most ruthless men of his time”. They contaminated high-ranking officials as well.
It would have been common for a deal to be struck between Brockway and the government for the price of shutting down the ring. That was way more profitable. When Lewis M. Roberts, aka “Mysterious Bob” was caught by the Secret Service, he implicated his rival “The Flying Dutchman” out of spite. In exchange for their freedom, the two implicated thirty other offenders. (p.108)
William E. Brockway, born William E. Spencer, “Long Bill”, began his career working with Ezra Becker in New Haven. 1849, he was arrested for the counterfeits from the New Haven County Bank and the New Haven Bank, and the counterfeit of q new five dollar plate. He served one year of a six year sentence. 1862, meets James B. Doyle, uses the alias of Spencer, and has 17 years of profitable operation. March 1865, the government issued bonds with 7.3 percent interest for six-month period. Brockway went to work on those, some of which ($90,000) were bought by Jay Cooke. Cooke filed suit against the government. Wood tried to indict Brockway, but his testimony was too scrambled, and Brockway went free.
Now fifty-eight in 1875, Brockway moves to Brooklyn and lists himself as a stockbroker. He has two houses, including a bachelor apartment in Manhattan. He has problems with his wife, who goes to see a lawyer about a divorce, who tells the SS where to find Brockway, who put him under surveillance, connect him with Doyle and Smith, and bust them. Brockway turns over the plates in the Thanksgiving Day search. Smith and Brockway go free, Doyle gets 12 years. He meets Dr. Orlando E. Bradford in jail, who is released in 1886, and a year later Brockway is released. They go into business together. He gets Charles F. Ulrich, but the SS convince him to turn over Brockway. He was sentenced to 10 years, but the public doubted the strength of the government’s case, despite catching him red-handed.
He was released in 1904, an octogenarian. He was occasionally hauled in when police recognized him. “ennobled the crime”, p 118.
Bank note reporters and counterfeit detectors
Counterfeit money was detected in Philadelphia, as shown by the New York Gazette article on March 13, 1726.
Notes made from