Methods for identifying counterfeit money in the territory of the Principality/Kingdom of Serbia in the 19th century

Abstract

Counterfeiting is one of the oldest and most persistent criminal offences. Scientific and technological development has enabled the emergence of a more modern money manufacturing technology and improvement of money protection systems, though at the same time it broadened the possibilities for criminal offences, notably the production of counterfeits. In the mid-1860s, the money in circulation in the Principality/Kingdom of Serbia was of foreign origin, comprising 43 types of different metal coins and one type of paper money. Gold and silver money of European origin was deemed by the people to be better and ?purer? than Turkish money. In an effort to establish control over the technological process of manufacturing the national currency and at the same time prevent the counterfeiting of money of different types and origin, the Principality of Serbia appointed chemists Mihajlo Raskovic and later Sima Lozanic, as ?examiners of ores and false money?. Almost all counterfeit currencies appeared immediately in circulation in the territory of the Principality/Kingdom of Serbia. This paper presents the methods used in the process of identifying false/suspect money, methods used to determine the nominal value of money, the importance of introduction of those scientific methods in the criminal and legal sphere of the Principality/Kingdom of Serbia, which can be considered the beginning of the forensic chemistry in Serbia.