Jim the Penman

Sidedoor

Smithsonian Institution

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4.7 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 18 September 2024

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

During the mid-1800s, one third of all paper money in America was thought to be fake. It was the golden age of counterfeiting, and one exceptionally talented con artist stood out from all the rest. His fakes were nearly perfect…but for a trademark tell. Known to law enforcement only as “Jim the Penman,” this celebrity criminal led many Americans to wonder: can great art truly be criminal?

Guests
Ellen Feingold, curator of the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is Side Door, a podcast from the Smithsonian with support from PRX. I'm Lizzy Peabody.
0:32.0	It was springtime when the $20 bill showed up. The man behind the desk turned it over in his hands, rubbed his fingers over the paper, squinted.
0:36.2	He was a teller at the U.S. Treasury in New Orleans, so he'd seen a lot of money.
0:41.8	And this bill looked all right, and yet something was off.
0:48.6	On the left, Alexander Hamilton's braid fell down his back.
0:52.4	That was correct. On the right, a woman in a
0:55.3	warrior's helmet and white gown raised her shield. There were the signatures
1:00.9	of the Register and Treasurer.
1:02.9	It all checked out.
1:05.3	But then he turned the bill over again,
1:09.0	pulled out a magnifying glass.
1:11.2	And the inky green lathe work on the backside
1:14.4	revealed the truth.
1:16.2	This $20 bill was drawn by hand,
1:20.3	line for line with pen and watercolor.
1:26.0	Back in Washington, officials confirmed what they could hardly believe themselves.
1:31.0	It was a masterpiece of imitation. But it was counterfeit. They alerted the banks
1:37.1	to be on the lookout, and then there was nothing to do but set it aside and stay watchful.
1:43.6	The year was 1879.
1:49.6	Six years later in 1885, a similar fake made it through the hands of shop owners and bank tellers all
1:56.2	the way to the Treasury without detection.
2:00.3	And then in 1891, another.
	...

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