Dupes and Duplicity
by Jennifer Lee Noonan from Damn Interesting on (#57REB)
On March 7, 1775, a handsome young apothecary named Robert Perreau entered a London bank with a simple, if somewhat extravagant request. He wanted to take out a 5,000 loan (equivalent to just under $1 million today) from the bank's owners, the Drummond brothers. As collateral for the loan, Perreau offered a bond for 7,500 [...]