What if the biggest threat to paper money wasn't economic collapse, but a simple printing press in someone's basement? In this episode, Michael Stevens reveals how early counterfeiters nearly destroyed the entire concept of paper currency before it could take hold, and the brilliant solutions that saved modern money. 🎯 What You'll Learn: • Why colonial America made counterfeiting punishable by death (and why people still risked it) • How Isaac Newton became history's most unlikely anti-counterfeiting detective at the Bank of England • The shocking story of John Law's French paper money disaster that made a tulip bulb worth more than a house • Why early American banks would literally refuse to honor their own paper money 👤 Perfect for: history buffs and anyone curious about how our financial systems actually work. If you've ever wondered why we trust pieces of paper as money, this episode connects those early struggles to today's digital currency debates. 📍 Chapters: [00:00] Michael Stevens introduces the counterfeiting crisis that almost killed paper money [01:45] Colonial America's death penalty solution and why it backfired [03:30] Isaac Newton's genius anti-counterfeiting techniques at the Royal Mint [05:15] John Law's French experiment that created history's wildest inflation [07:45] American banks that wouldn't trust their own currency [09:30] The breakthrough innovations that finally made paper money work [11:15] Why these lessons matter for cryptocurrency today 🔔 Never miss an episode: Follow When Rome Burns on Spotify or Apple Podcasts and turn on notifications. New episodes drop daily, your next favorite historical disaster is one tap away. 🔍 Topics: counterfeiting history, paper money origins, Isaac Newton, colonial America currency, financial system evolution

Stream the full show at When Rome Burns

----- Keywords: strategic bombing, paper money, fall of empires, founding fathers, military history, hitler, gold standard, d-day

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