e Lincoln, but attempting to pass off a false object as a real (and valuable) one. Forging a signature on a check, however, is essentially identity fraud: in effect claiming the identity of the person whose name is signed on the check.
This type of identity fraud has been possible ever since signatures or similar markers of identity were in use. Were archeologists to unearth the police blotters of ancient Sumeria, they would undoubtedly find incidents in which a duplicate of a signet ring was made and used as the equivalent of a forged signature in order to perpetrate a fraud. Equally old, no doubt, is identity fraud through direct impersonation of an individual. In Homer's Odyssey, Queen Penelope carefully tests her husband, arrived home after twenty years, to make sure he is in fact her husband and not an impostor. She was in effect protecting herself from identity fraud through impersonation.
Traditional forgery, however, tended to be difficult, relatively hazardous to the forger, and limited in its potential scope. Forging a signature accurately enough to pass even casual scrutiny is a fairly demanding skill, and moreover requires the forger to have access to an actual copy of the signature being forged. This is precisely why signatures acquired their legal standing; they are difficult to forge, and extremely difficult to forge well enough to pass close scrutiny.
Moreover, until quite recently, impersonal transactions -- those depending on tokens of identity (such as signatures or identification numbers) rather than direct personal acquaintance between the parties -- were relatively few in number. Most people, even well-to-do business people, conducted nearly all of their banking at a local bank or branch, where they were likely to be personally known to bank tellers. Even at a large and busy bank, a forger ran significant risk of encountering someone who would recognize the imposture directly.
In addit...