Part 3/5:
As with any form of currency, the value of cacao beans led to attempts at counterfeiting. Some clever individuals sought to exploit the high demand for these beans by creating fake ones. They carved imitation beans out of wax or used the pits from avocados, shaping them to resemble authentic cacao beans. These fraudulent beans were then coated with the husks of real cacao beans, allowing swindlers to pass them off as legitimate currency. This clever deception underscores the lengths to which people would go to profit from the economic significance of cacao.