Isaac Newton, detective

In 1696, Isaac Newton left Cambridge to become Warden of the Royal Mint in London. Many expected it to be an easy, well-paid post. Newton treated it as a serious job.

England’s coins were in crisis. Many were fake, and many genuine silver coins had been clipped around the edges for their metal. Newton oversaw a huge recoinage and turned his attention to the criminals.

He became a justice of the peace, built a network of informants and personally questioned suspects. His great opponent was William Chaloner, a clever counterfeiter who had even accused the Mint itself of incompetence.

Newton spent months building the case. In 1699 Chaloner was convicted of high treason, since counterfeiting was a capital crime, and hanged, despite begging Newton for mercy. Newton stayed at the Mint until his death in 1727, by then as its Master. The man who described the laws of the universe also ran the nation’s money.