A brief History of counterfeit money

Where there is money there is counterfeit money. Counterfeit money is an easy way of getting rich.

Twenty seven centuries ago the rulers of the Eastern Mediterranean countries began to mint coins. Counterfeiting emerged almost simultaneously with the appearance of money. The Athenian laws dating from the 6^th century meted out severe punishment to unauthorized persons minting money.

Production of counterfeit money undermines the state's principal monopoly, emission of currency, and has always been regarded as one of the most serious crimes. In medieval Europe in the 15^th and 17^th centuries great amounts of counterfeit money in circulation ruined the money systems of a number of countries. Rulers of states often went into the counterfeit business themselves whenever they needed replenish their treasures emptied by wars or other disasters.

With the introduction of paper money, specialists in counterfeiting it also appeared. The late 18^th and early 19^th centuries saw the rise of counterfeiting money of certain states by hostile countries intent on undermining their economy. On the eve of Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812 counterfeiting of 25, 50 and 100 ruble banknotes was started in Paris. Dozens of million of rubles of counterfeit money were brought to Russia by Napoleon's army. In 1813, the Russian government exchanged counterfeit banknotes for genuine money and destroyed the faked money. The process went on for more than ten years. The country lost much money. In 1820 seven million rubles were paid for the counterfeit banknotes withdrawn from circulation. To compare: only five million rubles were spent on rebuilding Moscow burned down in 1812.

Now governments fight this evil by sentencing the culprits to long terms of punishments and continually improving the safeguards against counterfeiting.

Упр. 4. Переведите предложения, вставив пропущенные слова из текста В.

1. The rulers of the … … countries began minting coins twenty seven centuries ago. 2. Counterfeiting money undermines the state's principal … and …of currency. 3. In the 15^th century counterfeit money ruined the … … of some countries. 4. During the Napoleon's invasion of Russia the French began counterfeiting the … banknotes. 5. The Russian government exchanged the faked banknotes for … money. 6. Seven million rubles were repaid for the … money withdrawn from …. 7. Governments fight counterfeiting by improving ….

ТЕКСТ С

Упр. 5. Переведите текст на русский язык, пользуясь словарём.

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