Not all of the fighting during WWII occurred on the ground; the Nazis used espionage in an attempt to destroy the British economy.
“Operation Bernhard,” was launched by Germany in an effort to create “elaborate printing plates that mimicked British currency, in order to flood the enemy economy with counterfeit bills,” Atlas Obscura reported.
Dr. Vince Houghton, a historian and curator at the International Spy Museum, says the museum exists to educate the public the importance of intelligence work throughout our history.
“The idea was to flood Britain with fake currency, so that no one could trust the British economic system. It evolved later on to a way to launder money and create fake money to pay German spies.” Dr. Houghton explained. “This plate represents an extraordinary moment in the second World War.”
Multiple security features were included in the British currency like paper type, watermarks, and serial numbers. The Germans still managed to crack the code and printed over 8 million counterfeit bills.
As the end of the war for loomed, Germany attempted to destroy and hide any and all evidence of the intelligence operation. The only remaining plate, found at the bottom of a lake in Austria, is currently in the hands of the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C.
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