A multidisciplinary team of archaeologists, geneticists, anthropologists, and geologists has unearthed a 17th-century tomb in the Pień cemetery, in north-central Poland, that defies all funeral norms of the time. It is the grave of a woman between 17 and 19 years old, buried with two iron objects that, due to their placement and symbolism, reveal […]

On November 9, 1963, two investigators from France’s Central Office for Counterfeit Currency Control (OCRFM) arrived at the post office on Rue Turgot in Paris’s 9th arrondissement. Five days earlier, a customer had purchased 1,000 francs’ worth of Treasury bonds there using a stack of crisp 100-franc notes bearing the portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte. At first glance, nothing seemed unusual. The notes looked authentic, felt authentic, and even carried convincing watermarks. But they were counterfeit.

A 'Bonaparte' 100 Franc notes that Ceslaw Bojarski forged. Credit: Wikimedia Commons