At our September meeting, unstoppable auctioneer/educator Parry Bragg gave a presentation on Operation Bernhard, the Nazi effort to counterfeit banknotes (samples of which Parry passed around). Based primarily in a concentration camp, the operation leveraged inmate expertise in chemistry (to duplicate linen & ink); cryptanalysis (to crack the Bank of England’s serial number assignment); and forgery (to reproduce design & signatures), to produce banknotes that were virtually indistinguishable from the genuine article…

This story was too big for one presentation: Parry promises to complete the tale at our 31 October meeting. But if he doesn’t salute Hallowe’en by appearing in costume, will I be the only one who feels somewhat disappointed?