What Happened on This Day in History?
On July 16, 1661, the Swedish bank Stockholms Banco issued the first banknotes in European history, replacing the cumbersome copper plates that Swedes had been lugging around as currency. Within just a few years, the bank had printed so many notes it collapsed spectacularly, making it also one of the first modern banking failures.
Why It's Strange
The very institution that invented European paper money was destroyed by its own invention, printing itself into bankruptcy and demonstrating within its own short lifespan exactly why reckless money-printing is a terrible idea.
