An example tablet from the Michigan Relics, including crude and inaccurate representations of Egyptian headwear. Source: James E. Talmage / Public Domain.

The Michigan Relics, and the Greatest Fraud in American History

The year is 1890, and James O. Scotford of Edmore, Michigan, is about to make an astonishing claim. Scotford reveals to the world his “discoveries”: a series of relics including a cup and several flat panels covered in what appear to be hieroglyphics. These were only the first finds, and more and more artifacts began