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Would American Currency Thwart Counterfeiters?


T ree extremely rare 18th-century type-metal blocks on deposit with the Library Company of Philadelphia recently were identifi ed as instruments used by Benjamin Franklin’s printing offi ce to print colonial currency in Delaware and beyond. First used to print money by Franklin in 1737, the blocks were made by pressing a sage leaf into plaster to create a mold, which was then used to cast printing blocks from type metal. T e castings’ delicate images were used to deter counterfeiting of paper money until 1785. Exactly how artisans managed to create such uniquely


subtle contours in the castings remains a bit of a mystery to modern scholars. Franklin and his workers kept their methods a secret to keep counterfeiters from copying the designs. Originally stored in the vault at the Delaware County Institute of Science, Media, Pa., the blocks feature three parallel sage leaves that match images on Franklin’s 1760s shilling notes for Delaware’s government, which bear the ominous slogan “To Counterfeit is DEATH.” ■


14 | METAL CASTING DESIGN & PURCHASING | Jul/Aug 2015


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