Before Benjamin Franklin was on American money, he made it. Literally. We remember Benjamin Franklin as a Founding Father, scientist, inventor, diplomat, and statesman. But decades before he helped declare American independence, Franklin was a printer—and one of his most fascinating jobs was printing money. In this episode of Worth Its Weight, discover how a young printer became an advocate for colonial paper currency, won contracts to produce it, and developed ingenious ways to stay one step ahead of counterfeiters. From deliberately complicated designs and colored fibers to shimmering paper, nature-printed leaves, and a mysterious ink recipe that took modern science nearly 300 years to uncover, Franklin understood something fundamental about money: Paper is only valuable if people trust it. And protecting that trust became part of his extraordinary legacy. --- Numismatic References Pennsylvania Colonial Currency Printed by Benjamin Franklin – Franklin received his first contract to print Pennsylvania paper money in 1730, beginning a decades-long involvement in colonial currency production.1739 Pennsylvania Paper Money – Franklin incorporated complicated typography and intentionally varied spellings of “Pennsylvania” into these notes, creating additional obstacles for counterfeiters attempting to reproduce them.Franklin Nature-Print Notes – Franklin used impressions taken from actual leaves to create extraordinarily detailed printing blocks for the backs of colonial notes. The unique networks of veins were difficult for counterfeiters to reproduce by hand.Colonial Currency with “To Counterfeit is Death” Warnings – Colonial notes frequently carried stark warnings about the legal consequences of counterfeiting. In some jurisdictions and circumstances, currency counterfeiting could be punishable by death.United States $100 Federal Reserve Note – Benjamin Franklin has appeared on the $100 Federal Reserve note since its introduction in 1914. Today’s note incorporates numerous anti-counterfeiting technologies—including specialized paper, embedded fibers, a security thread, color-shifting ink, microprinting, and the three-dimensional security ribbon.Curious what these objects look like? Visit the Money Museum website to see historic paper money and other objects from the ANA collection. --- Franklin’s Anti-Counterfeiting Toolkit COMPLEX PRINTING Elaborate borders, different typefaces, ornamental lettering, symbols, changing spellings, signatures, and other details gave counterfeiters more than a single image to reproduce. Franklin understood that complexity itself could become a form of security. SPECIALIZED PAPER Franklin experimented with the material beneath the printing. Colored threads incorporated directly into the paper pulp created features a counterfeiter couldn’t simply copy with ink. Researchers have also identified tiny particles of mica in Franklin-associated currency paper, giving it distinctive characteristics. NATURE PRINTING Perhaps Franklin’s most ingenious anti-counterfeiting technique came directly from nature. By transferring the intricate vein structure of actual leaves into printing blocks, Franklin created designs that were recognizable but extraordinarily difficult to reproduce accurately by hand. UNUSUAL INK Nearly 300 years later, modern researchers discovered another unusual feature hiding in Franklin’s currency. While many contemporary printers and known counterfeiters used conventional bone-black pigments, analysis found graphite in Franklin’s black printing ink. Exactly why he chose it remains uncertain—but counterfeiters examined by researchers weren’t using it. LAYERS OF SECURITY No single feature made Franklin’s currency impossible to counterfeit. That was the point. A successful counterfeiter had to reproduce the paper, ink, typography, borders, nature prints, signatures, and other details convincingly enough to fool the person accepting the note. --- Sources Franklin, Benjamin. A Modest Enquiry into the Nature and Necessity of a Paper Currency. Philadelphia, 1729.Franklin, Benjamin. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.Newman, Eric P. The Early Paper Money of America. Krause Publications.Newman, Eric P. “The Nature Printing on Colonial and Continental Currency.” The Numismatist.Khachaturyan, A. et al. “Multimodal Analysis of Benjamin Franklin’s Printed Currency Reveals Previously Unknown Methods for Deterring Counterfeits.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2023.Library Company of Philadelphia. Benjamin Franklin papers, printing records, and collections relating to Franklin’s career as a printer.Library of Congress. Benjamin Franklin Papers and resources relating to Franklin’s printing and political career.National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution. National Numismatic Collection and resources on colonial American paper currency.University of Notre Dame, Department of Special Collections. Colonial Currency: A Project of the Robert H. Gore, Jr. Numismatic Collection.U.S. Currency Education Program, Federal Reserve Board. Historical and security information for the $100 Federal Reserve note.--- Subscribe Today! If you enjoyed this episode, follow Worth Its Weight wherever you get your podcasts and leave us a review—it helps more listeners discover the stories money carries. And if there’s a coin, note, or piece of monetary history you think deserves an episode, send us your two cents. You never know what might make its way onto Worth Its Weight. --- Learn More About the American Numismatic Association Money Museum Money Museum Virtual Exhibits Explore the ANA Membership Worth Its Weight is an ANA production from the Money Museum, where history adds up—with interest! To learn more, explore show notes, and discover more stories carried by money, visit money.org. Follow the money. Literally.
