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The Art of Making Money: The Story of a Master Counterfeiter

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It is rather amazing that our day-to-day economy is founded on rectangles of printed paper, worthless in themselves, but to which we all communally assign a high value. The difference between the rectangles' actual value and their symbolic value is what counterfeiters exploit, and the counterfeiter's work was considered so dangerous to society that it used to be a capital crime. It is still a danger, and the object of the Federal Reserve Bank is to print dollar bills that cannot be copied, while the object of the counterfeiters is to copy them. This cat-and-mouse game has best been played recently by counterfeiter Art Williams, who successfully conquered the redesigned $100 bill, issued to thwart photocopiers in 1996. Successfully, for a while at least. Williams's story is told in _The Art of Making Money: The Story of a Master Counterfeiter_ (Gotham Books) by Jason Kersten. Kersten has had plenty of interviews with Williams, and with many of his connections; he did not get cooperation from the Secret Service, which preferred to keep things secret. The Secret Service was formed in 1865 to combat counterfeiters, who were threatening the foundation of the US economy. Only later did it get the job it is better known for, protecting the president. So while there are some details about the work of the counterfeiter and his detection and prosecution, most of the book plays as a biography of a talented, obsessed, and tragic figure.

Williams had an upbringing fit for a career criminal, including a chaotic home and gang membership. A counterfeiting expert took him under his wing, explaining how to use the arc-light burner, make plates, mix inks, obtain paper, and the other matters of hardware, as well as common-sense tips on how to unload the money and keep from getting caught.m Counterfeiters risk capture if they just print money and spend it. It is far safer to print money and sell it for, say, thirty cents on the dollar, to distant contacts who ideally would use it for drug payoffs or for international shipments. It was a lot to learn, and Williams was a gifted student. When Chicago became too hot for safety, he headed to Texas where he was picked up for robbery, and when he got out of prison, the 1996 New Note was in circulation. He took the note as his personal challenge. Among his innovations was experimenting with digital duplication, producing a hybrid bill that used both offset and digital production. Kersten details the bill's security features, and how Williams worked hard to overcome each one. The color-shifting ink, for instance, could be mimicked with paint used on those automobiles that have a different color depending on the angle you are looking at them, and the paint could be applied with a rubber stamp. Even experts did not spot the fakes, and Williams began the labor-intensive full-scale production. Everyone wanted in, because the bills were so good. Williams got rich from the production, and he and friends and family went on sprees. The object in spending a counterfeit $100 bill is not to get $100 worth of goods; it is to get a clerk to take your fake money for a $20 item and give you $80 change in good money. His team would hit a mall, spend the money at different stores, and come away with goods they didn't need, so they took pains to buy things the poor could use and then donated the goods to the Salvation Army. The financial gain from counterfeiting seems to have been less of a motivation than the technical challenges of making passable bills, but Williams was able to enjoy the freedom and travel that resulted.

The travel brought him to the Alaskan doorstep of his estranged father who appreciated Williams's line of work and wanted to get in it, at which point the whole tale descends into fear and chaos and capture. It is ironic that Williams could make money but that no amount of money, real or fake, could bring back the family ties he craved. His wife contemplated at one point, "He was good at anything he set his mind to. If he put half the energy into just a job, he'd probably make good money anyway." This account of Williams life includes much about his technical expertise and success, and might even engender some admiration for his cleverness and tenacity, but it is a simple tragedy of self-imposed ruin. Williams might get out of prison in a few years, and the dollar bills might have holographic imagery by that time; my guess is he won't be able to keep from trying to make copies.

Jason Kersten does a marvelous job of telling the true story of how Art Williams became one of the most successful conterfeiters in modern times. The narrative flows beautifully to bring readers into the difficult and troubled life of Art as he was growing up and how he got into conterfeiting. There's no sense of hyperbole nor of minimizing Art's strengths and/or his flaws. Art's story itself also is inherently compelling because of his great humanity and how his attempt to connect with his estranged father led to his discovery and apprehension by the secret service. I found this book to be one of the most memorable and high-quality books that I have ever read.

This was a great read. The author has a superior command of the written word and uses it to spin a fascinating tale of a troubled family. I particularly enjoyed his portrayal of the many colorful, true-life characters and the balanced way in which he portrays them. I've read it twice and have recommended it to all my friends and co-workers.

Jason Kersten knows how to write. Regardless of what you think about Art Williams Jr. as a person, Kersten has spun a highly entertaining tale full of fascinating characters, events, and subject matter. It's relatively rare that I completely lose myself in a book and think during the day "I can't wait to get home and read some more of this." The Art of Making Money was one of the books that made me feel that way. It's a page turner for sure

As a connoisseur of non-fiction books about professional thieves, I think that one of common flaws writers make when working in this genre is focusing too much on the court process. I've read books where literally the last half of it describes what happens after the criminal gets caught and is about all the courtroom minutia leading up to their sentence. Kersten didn't fall into this trap, probably because the story of counterfeit money and Art Williams Jr. is genuinely interesting and meaty enough to make a whole book out of without resorting to that.

Another thing Kersten did right was not focusing too much on the police that brought Art down. In most true crime books about thieves there are entire chapters about the detectives assigned to the case and who they are, sometimes you'd almost think the book was about the police officers. Not so here, instead of falsely building up a police hero, Kersten instead talks about Art and the mistakes he made himself which led to his own capture.

And mistakes he did make! While a clever and skilled counterfeiter, Art lacked the maturity, caution, and common sense which are so necessary for long term success in that craft. Just to mention one thing, without giving too much away, at one point Art gets arrested for counterfeiting and is extremely lucky to avoid a lengthy prison sentence on a technicality. At this point he knows the Secret Service is watching his every move. A sane person would probably go into another line of work at this point, but what does Art do? Resumes counterfeiting of course. The events leading up to his second counterfeiting arrest were a complete comedy of errors that left me shocked at the stupidity of Art and the people around him. The book is worth reading for the ending chapters alone, to laugh at the sheer foolishness that Art and his Dad exhibit. This isn't how a "master" operates of course, so the title of the book is misleading, but if Art was truly a mastermind criminal we wouldn't be getting to read this great book.

And it is a great book, totally enthralling and fun to read. Jason Kersten did an excellent job and I'll definitely be looking for any more books by him.

Art Williams' story is a thrilling one. The book takes the reader through Art's life in the Bridgeport projects of Chicago to Alaska, where his estranged father lives.

The book glorifies Williams, ignoring many of the moral quandaries presented by his crimes. Still, it's a fun read, and the counterfeiting techniques Art used are detailed and fascinating.

Counterfeiting currency is a centuries old art, and yet not much is written in mainstream media about it. Enter Jason Kersten, who details the life of Art Williams, Jr. , his rise to the top of the counterfeiting game, and his subsequent fall. Williams wasn't born into a life anyone else would want; his father, Senior, abandoned his family when Art was just a kid, and tumultuous family relationships and poverty led to gang involvement and crime. A guy his mom was dating, da Vinci, took him under his wing, and taught Art the basics of counterfeiting, including stellar advice related to keeping himself safe.

After leaving Chicago, Art spent a few years in Texas, where he was imprisoned for robbery. Four years later, he is released, and the New Note is in circulation. It was been completely redesigned to thwart counterfeiters, but difficulty has never been a reason Art has steered away from an activity. With his current girlfriend, Natalie, the two of them embark on a challenge to replicate the New Note.

Kersten goes into detailed account of how Art mastered making fake $100 bills, from the challenges in acquiring the materials, to the painstaking task of making each bill. When Art finally mastered it, things really took off. All of his old contacts wanted in, as well as family and friends. Art's eventual downfall comes when he the people he trusted let him down.

There were many working pieces to this tale that were expertly woven. Although he was bright, Art was never in an environment that fully nurtured and encouraged him onto the right track. Kersten details the sprees Art and his cohorts went on to launder the fake bills. He'd go into a store and purchase an item under $20 with a fake bill, and come out with roughly $80 in good money. They would do this for thousands of dollars at a time, and much of the items purchased would be donated to the Salvation Army or local churches. Art knew that he could be caught, but never thought of providing himself and his family with a rainy day fund.

Kersten does a fantastic job of telling Art's story. In the end, I wanted Art to triumph; he wasn't a bad person, actually, he was very kind and caring. He got dealt a bad hand in life and made the best of it that he could. However much money he could print, though, it would never give him the childhood or the family he wanted.

THE ART OF MAKING MONEY: THE STORY OF A MASTER COUNTERFEITER tells the true story of a legendary counterfeiter who was only undone when he looked for family ties. Art Williams devised means to circumvent security measures and make millions by counterfeiting; his exploits are a fascinating tale, recommended for both business and general-interest libraries.

If this book is ever recreated in film, I can't imagine anyone but Ray Liotta playing the roll of Art Williams. In fact, Jason Kersten even compares one of the scenes in his story to one of the scenes in "Goodfellas". Though I finished the book last week I'm still wondering why someone with the talent and tenacity of Art Williams couldn't "keep it together" enough to live comfortably and anonymously somewhere in the south of France. Very well written, hard to put the book down, I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a fascinating and entertaining read.

I listened to the audio version of "The Art of Making Money", I think this might be the best way to get this particular title. A young man finds himself on a roller coaster ride, but instead of getting off, he yells "faster, faster", even though he must know where the ride is going to end up. The disappearance of his counterfeiting mentor is like a foreshadowing... We know that huge amounts of (funny) money, a dysfunctional set of friends and family and the secret service are all going to combine for a nasty ending, but what a ride!

More than anything, we learn something that many people find out, that in the end, no matter what, family, and our parents are often a bond that can't be broken no matter how badly they treat us, nor how many times they abandon us, or how badly we treat each other.

I'll keep this audio book for listening to again.

The Art of Making Money is that rare non-fiction book that is not only entertaining and informative but can also be classified as a "page turner". Once I started reading it was difficult to put down. The book documents the rise and fall of Art Williams, an intelligent and talented kid who could have done anything with his life but who primarily due to poverty and an extremely disfunctional family chose a life of crime. The relationship between Art and his father is particularly informative as to the path that Art followed. In addition to Art's immediate family the are a host of colorful supporting charachters that make this a very entertaining read.