The Story of Money When money went rogue: banking in 19th-century frontier America
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May 6, 2026 
Stephen Mihm, history professor and author specializing in 19th-century counterfeiting, tells the tale of James Brown, a charismatic frontier conman who turned homemade money into a business. Short scenes cover why private banknotes proliferated, how counterfeiters blurred lines with real banks, regional tolerance and corruption, and surprising parallels between wildcat banking and modern crypto.
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The Failed Bank Of The United States Plot
- Brown attempted audacious schemes like counterfeiting the Bank of the United States and planning an overseas shopping spree from New Orleans using fake national notes.
- The plan collapsed when he was arrested in port and his brother died in prison.
Genuine Notes For Fictitious Banks
- Brown sometimes created entirely fake banks and hired reputable New York engravers to produce convincing genuine-looking notes.
- That blurred metaphysical lines: genuine notes of fictitious institutions sat between counterfeit and legitimate currency.
Organizations Used Charters To Issue Notes
- Some groups, like the Mormons' Kirtland Safety Society, even printed anti-banking notes as a political act, showing how note issuance attached to any corporation.
- Many institutions (or orphanages) obtained charters mainly to issue notes rather than serve missions.
