Meet the Johnson family, a close-knit clan devoted to the family business: counterfeiting money.

During the Victorian era, the Johnsons — John, Nancy, and their seven children — were among North America’s most accomplished and prolific currency counterfeiters. They flourished at a time when national currencies were new, phony money was rampant, and even bank staff struggled to distinguish between real and fake cash.

Frequently jailed and largely unrepentant, the Johnsons remained dedicated to each other and to forgery. While the Secret Service emerged as a law enforcement power and governments attempted to end currency chaos through increased regulation, the family built an astonishing criminal career that spanned two generations and nearly five decades.

This lively account of the Johnson family and their crimes shines a light on the golden era of counterfeiting in North America.