Sir Isaac Newton is mostly known for his discovery of the law of gravity, but there is a very interesting part of his life that most people do not know and it is that he changed forever the way money was printed and coined.
In 1696 he was appointed to the Royal Mint which, still today, makes and distributes the nation’s money. Before him England had a terrible problem in regards to money: counterfeit money flooded the streets and it was at the brink of losing credibility among society.
Newton brought order to chaos. He managed the recall of all coins, he manufactured and issued a new secure coinage and introduced the gold standard.
He relentlessly hunted down counterfeiters, frequenting sleazy taverns and dank prisons, gathering information and evidence and developing a network of spies and informants. He succeeded, thanks to him we have the safe and secure money we know today.