Benjamin Franklin And Money

 

As we know, money is one of those topics taught to kids in elementary school.  The idea is that by the time they reach a certain age, they can identify the different coins, know their values, total, and make change.  On the other hand, we think of a kite with a key that was struck by lightening when anyone says Benjamin Franklin but did you know he had a connections with money? 

According, to a recent study published, it appears that Benjamin Franklin was involved in printing colonial money using new techniques.  During his career, Franklin was associated with the printing of over 2,500,000 colonial notes using some very innovative techniques.

At this time, the British colonies faced a coin shortage due to the need of the colonies to use the coins to pay for imports and this hindered both trade and economic growth.  To solve this problem, Franklin suggested that the colonies print their own paper monies backed by the assets of each colonial government. Franklin understood that the colonies needed to produce their own monies to gain financial independance.

Benjamin Franklin owned a series of printing shops that were responsible for printing many of the paper notes used in the colonies. One of the biggest problems that came with producing paper notes was the possibility of  counterfeiting. When Franklin opened his first printing shop in 1728, paper money was still a new concept,  Without the backing of gold or silver like the coins, these paper monies could easily depreciate in value.  

In addition, none of the paper notes were standardized so it was much easier for counterfeiters to make fake notes and pass them off to the unsuspecting populous. We know Franklin made decisions designed to make it harder for notes to be counterfeited but the records of his decisions are lost to history but several researchers using cutting edge spectroscopic and imaging instruments to look closely at the inks, papers, and fibers that Franklin used.  What he did, made it harder to have his bills counterfeited.

One thing they discovered was that the fake bills had higher levels of calcium and phosphorus that were only in trace amounts in the original ones.  Although Franklin used and sold a black ink made of burned vegetable oils called "lamp black", he used a special black dye made of graphite found in rocks. This was different than the "bone black" made out of burned bones that was often used by counterfeiters and others.

Furthermore, Franklin appears to have scattered small silk threads in with the paper, much like our modern paper.  In addition, many of the paper notes printed by his network of printing shops also contained muscovite which added a translucent quality to the paper. The researchers proposed that Franklin originally added the muscovite to make the paper more durable but kept using it when he realized it made it harder for counterfeiters to make fake money.

So these researchers proposed that Benjamin Franklin contributed significantly to the original creation of paper money so that it became harder to counterfeit.  I found it quite fascinating.  Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  Have a great day.