A two hour show on the History Channel dealt with counterfeiting. Called “Making a Buck,” it was kind of interesting…except the interminable commercials. (Best thing is to tape it and fast forward through commercials.) At any rate, counterfeiting is as old as history, and while the show didn’t mention it, before paper counterfeiting, ancient kings used to counterfeit almost as easily. Their coins were made of gold and silver and stamped with the royal imprimatur. In other words, the king as much as said, “These are legal tender, and you must use them because I said so, and besides, they are valuable.” They were, but as is usual in history, kings and governments always spend more than they take in with taxes and various other forms of stealing. The king would dilute the coin’s purity by throwing in a bit of silver with the gold, or maybe copper. They still had to be used, even though they were actually worth less than before. Another way of counterfeiting was to clip the coins. A bit was chopped off and melted down to make more coins, thereby reducing the silver or gold content. Or, suddenly the coins were smaller or thinner, as the king saw fit. Just plain old counterfeiting, and the king was ruler, so he had his way. He had to pay for all those conquests, you know. Other kings were even bigger thieves, and they made their coinage out of copper or brass, keeping the gold and silver in the royal vaults.
The show dealt with paper note counterfeiting, especially when the dollar was backed by gold and silver. The fake bills could then be exchanged for real money, unless detected, which was often. One outfit had a sheer genius as an engraver, and his notes were virtually impossible to detect from the real thing. When he was caught and sent to jail, his sponsors had a unique way to try to get him out. They would steal dishonest Abe’s bones and hold them as a ransom for the engraver’s release. Didn’t work of course, but it was fun to watch.
During WW II, the Nazis counterfeited the British Pound, which was an extremely difficult note to fake. They tried to foist them off on the Bank of England, and it failed, but the counterfeits were so good, that the Jerrys bought paintings, gold, fuel, and guns seemingly without end, foisting off the fake pounds. They had captured Jews do their dirty work, who did it in order to stay alive. Dollars were faked millions of times, and it is said that the Nazi’s were going to counterfeit them and drop millions from planes to destroy the American economy, but the war was over before they could accomplish that.
Gradually, governments developed sophisticated papers interlaced with metals or colored threads, which made counterfeiting difficult. Counterfeiting the U.S. dollar, which was backed by gold and silver was profitable, because the number of dollars was limited by the amount of gold and silver in the treasury’s vaults. Remember the film “Goldfinger?” I was in the theatre business back then, and I won the bid for Goldfinger. Made tons of money with that James Bond flick. I used to go to exhibitor screenings, so you could see what you were going to bid on. Other exhibitors never went. When Bond awoke in the plane and asked the gal who she was, and she said, “My name is Pussy Galore,” I knew it would be a winner and it was. Sean Connery was a bit younger and handsomer then. The bad man, Eric Goldfinger was going to rob Ft. Knox of its gold, with interesting complications. Fun. Except I don’t think there is a single ounce of gold in Ft. Knox, either then or now. The gold in New York is labeled as the U.S. being the caretaker, not owner. Besides, Ft. Knox hasn’t been inventoried since Eisenhower’s day. Neighbors said that a fleet of heavily guarded trucks were seen leaving Ft. Knox in the early 1960’s and I am sure it was the U.S. gold.
The whole point of this is that since the buck isn’t backed by anything, who cares who turns them out? Fake ones are about as valuable as authentic ones, and none of them is worth much more than the paper on which they are printed. When we mistakenly invaded Iraq, there were found three tractor trailers loaded to the gills with hundred dollar bills. When Saddam was found, he supposedly had $750,000 in hundred dollar bills with him. Fakes or real, they all look alike, and are merely pieces of paper with ink on them.
Fake gold or silver coins? 35 years ago, thousands of fake $20 gold pieces were imported into the US and sold as genuine by coin dealers. They were made by commies, but out of real gold. Good fakes, and you have to use a jeweler’s loop to tell the difference. I am sure that many thousands of them are still out there. Fake a bullion coin? No profit in that, as they are priced so close to the spot price, that it would make no sense. Might as well fake a 2007 Ford. What for? You could buy a new one for a lot less! Fake a model A? Sure, because there aren’t many around and they bring a big price. Fake numismatics? Why not, because they could turn a nice profit if they were un-detected. But to fake something close to spot with a good hallmark such as Gold or Silver Eagles, Maple Leafs, Krugerrands or any of the other bullion coins, would be an exercise in futility. Get the real ones without the trouble of engraving and making dies.
People often ask me what the “Krugerrand” means. Paul Krueger was the hero of South Africa, just like George Washington is here. The rand, in South Africa, is their money denomination, like the dollar is here. The Kruger rand then, in South Africa, is like saying George Washington Dollar here. Krueger died thinking the earth was flat.
Gold and silver bullion coins will never be counterfeited, because it would be un-profitable. Fake a hundred dollar bill, even though it would be worth the same as a real one? Why not, if you are good enough. I have heard of color copiers being used to produce counterfeits, and it may be possible. It doesn’t matter though, because all I want is real money in the form of real, bullion types of gold and silver bars or coins. Throughout history, paper money has gone to zero, and tangible things held their value, no matter what currency in which they were priced.
There can be counterfeit everything! Fake brands of watches, candy, clothing, jewelry, and as far as the mind can think. I’ve just never heard of fake bullion coins. It would be foolish to try to make one because there would be no profit in that enterprise. Bullion coins and bars are one of the few things you never have to worry about being counterfeit, as opposed to fake Rolexes, Prada clothes, turquoise, or “Indian” jewelry. A now deceased friend in Silverton, had a what we call a “rubber tomahawk” shop, which of course had fake ’Indian jewelry.’ Once, when he was trying to sell a piece, he told the customer (who bought it), that it was hand made by “Phillip Hines,” and after the customer had left, he rolled in laughter, because it was made in the Philippines. The sheeple are sometimes easy to fool. If they weren’t, they wouldn’t trust and save in the un-backed, printed by the trillions, paper dollars. Have a great weekend!