Counterfeiting has been going on for a very long time. During the American Revolution, the British counterfeited our money just to mess up our money system. They did a lot of damage!

During the Civil War, it was estimated that one-third of all the currency was fake. About 1,600 banks were designing their own money and circulating it, and that just added to the problem of figuring out what bills were real and which ones were not.

In 1865, the U. S. Secret Service was organized to chase down counterfeiters. That's still the job of the Secret Service, in addition to taking care of the safety of the President and Vice President and their families (and former Presidents). The Secret Service works with local law enforcement people and the police in foreign countries to track down and shut down the operations of counterfeiters.

How much of it goes on? It's tough to track down that information, but the latest government report says it estimates about $208.7 million of the $380 billion of our currency in circulation is counterfeit. That's about one-thousandth of the money in circulation in our own country, so not too bad but it's still way too much. When caught, counterfeiters do some serious jail time. IT IS a serious crime!!

Did You Know?

In 1350, a law was passed in England that made counterfeiting a crime of treason against England. Those proven guilty were put to death!!