In this image provided by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, blue threads can be seen in a six shillings Delaware note printed by J Adams on January 1, 1776. Counterfeiters found it difficult to duplicate the note. (Provided by the National Academy of Sciences via AP) Associated Press.
“SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Benjamin Franklin was so busy as an inventor, publisher, scientist, diplomat and U.S. founding father that it’s easy to lose track of his accomplishments.
So add one more to the roster: his early work in printing colonial paper currency designed to counter a constant threat of counterfeiting.
Franklin was an early innovator of printing techniques that used colored threads, watermarks and imprints of natural objects such as leaves to make it far harder for others to create knockoffs of his paper bills. A team at the University of Notre Dame has shed new light on his methods using advanced scanning techniques that reveal some of Franklin’s methods in greater detail — along the way, also providing one more reason Franklin appears on the $100 bill.”
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