Charles Ponzi Promised Stamps. The Supreme Court Found None.

Everyone knows the word. Fewer people know the paper behind it: a forged cheque in Montreal, a 1910 mug shot in an Atlanta prison file, a reply coupon pinned to a letter from Spain, and a Supreme Court opinion that says he made no investments of any kind. We follow Charles Ponzi through the documents he left behind, from a steamer that docked in Boston in 1903 to a charity hospital in Rio de Janeiro. Fifteen million, or nine and a half? Which number did you grow up hearing? Tell us in the comments. Sources: Cunningham v. Brown, 265 U.S. 1 (1924) Ponzi v. Fessenden, 258 U.S. 254 (1922) National Archives, Prologue (Summer 2010): "When Ponzi's Bubble Burst", Ponzi Inmate Case File (NAID 860171) Omaha Daily Bee, August 3, 12 and 14, 1920 (Nebraska Newspapers) Oklahoma City Times, June 29, 1926 (Gateway to Oklahoma History) Charles Ponzi, The Rise of Mr. Ponzi (memoir), and the excerpt in Lapham's Quarterly Francis Russell, "Bubble, Bubble — No Toil, No Trouble", American Heritage, February 1973 Smithsonian Magazine, "In Ponzi We Trust" (1998) Smithsonian National Postal Museum, Ponzi Scheme The Pulitzer Prizes, 1921 Public Service: Boston Post Universal Postal Union, press release on the end of the International Reply Coupon (December 2025) U.S. SEC, Investor.gov: Ponzi Scheme Mass Moments, Ponzi Scheme Begins to Unravel TIME: "William Miller, the Original Schemer" (2012); "Take My Money!" (January 31, 1949) Maisonneuve, "Pure Laine Ponzi" (2009) The Jaxson Magazine, on Ponzi in Jacksonville Full links to every source are in the pinned comment. Archival images: National Archives, Library of Congress, New York Public Library and other public-domain collections via Wikimedia Commons; newspaper pages from Nebraska Newspapers. Some scenes are AI-generated reconstructions without people. The cheque on screen is a reconstruction, not the original. #CharlesPonzi #PonziScheme #AmericanHistory #TrueCrime #1920s