Counterfeit Money

Term Paper # 101065

Criminology > Public and Crime
Economics
History

Counterfeit Money

This paper discuses the history and the effects of counterfeiting money on the economy of governments with particular focus on the United States of America.

2,710 words () | 12 sources | MLA | 2003 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that, in the U.S. and other countries, counterfeit money production has significant effects on law and policy development, on a country's behavior towards other nations, and on overall security. The author points out that the history of counterfeiting dates back as far as the history of money itself. The paper relates that, historically, there is not much governments can do to prevent counterfeiting except make legal threats and create bills that are difficult to forge. The author points out that today, even though bills are becoming increasingly more complex, common technology, such as laser printers and personal computers, are making it possible for even the most amateur counterfeiters to create and pass off fake bills. The paper stresses that the major problems caused by international counterfeiting are hyperinflation by too much money being put into circulation and the use of counterfeit money to support terrorist operations and organized crime.

From the Paper:

"Many of these new world counterfeiters were masters at their craft. When paper bills of credit were issued, it was easy for these counterfeiters to send copies to Germany, Amsterdam, Ireland, or England to have plates and actual forgeries made. Having bills printed in Europe possessed the advantage that the counterfeiting of American bills in Europe was not illegal. Also, the threat of being caught was very remote. Samuel Ford, a "really gifted artist," could produce bills that fooled provincial treasurers. Counterfeiting became such a problem in Virginia in 1773 that the business of the colony became idle."

Sample of Sources Used:

Bloom, Murray Teigh. Money of Their Own: The Great Counterfeiters. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1957.
Conlay, Tonya. Teacher's Notes. Northwestern State University. Natchitoches, LA.
House. Update: Iranian, Syria, and the Trail of the Counterfeit Money. 1994. H. Doc.
Gilbert, Geoff. "Who has Jurisdiction for Cross-Frontier Financial Crimes?." Web Journal of Current Legal Issues, (1995).
McEachern, William A. Economics: A Contemporary Introduction. Ohio: Southwestern, 2003.