Paul Schultz writes:

Ichabod Miller eked out a living on his farm in West Stockbridge, Mass. On December 20, 1772, his pastoral life was turned upside down.

Miller was awoken to the commotion of an angry mob at his door. In a moment they had broken in the door and he faced the business end of a loaded musket. He was accused of counterfeiting. This crime could be heart stopping. If proven, the sentence was death.

Counterfeiting was fairly prevalent in the colonies at this time. It was relatively easy to do, it was extremely profitable, hard to discover, and even harder to prosecute.

A 1771 a batch of New York paper money was so extensively counterfeited that officials proposed printing an illustration of a hanging on all printed money. The plan was never carried out, but they hoped the scene of a man hanging from the gallows would have profound impact.

In addition to deadly prosecutions, officials devised ever more sophisticated methods to thwart counterfeiters. Engravers used complex symbols and marks to make identifying genuine bills from counterfeits easier. Still, the relatively poor quality of printed bills generally meant that the average person was easily duped. As it does today, money often changed hands with little notice of whether it was real or fake.

To read the complete article, see:
Tis' Death to Counterfeit: New England Counterfeiters in NY(https://newyorkalmanack.com/2018/04/18th-century-warning-tis-death-to-counterfeit/)

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
COUNTERFEITS IN MILWAUKEE AND MINNEAPOLIS(https://www.coinbooks.org/v23/esylum_v23n23a36.html)