Currency
(One Shilling)

Printed by Hall & Sellers
Philadelphia
1776

An intricate leaf design was devised by Benjamin Franklin as an anti-counterfeiting measure. For centuries, how Franklin created this design eluded experts. In the 1960s, it was discovered that Franklin had made a thin, lead cast of a real leaf and nailed it to the printing press, producing a design nearly impossible for the average counterfeiter to reproduce.

Paper. L 10.2, W 5.9 cm
The George C. Neumann Collection
Valley Forge National Historical Park, VAFO 1409