Though perhaps better known for its newspapers and almanacs, Benjamin Franklin’s printing business also churned out paper money to support the colonial economy. Now, scientists are confirming some of the ways that Franklin and his associates thwarted counterfeiters to help early American paper currency succeed, including by adding a reflective mineral to bills.
Franklin’s bills “served as an archetype for printed money” to come, says Khachatur Manukyan, a physical chemist at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. “It was very sophisticated for that time.”
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