"Okay so I think it was Peter the Great, of Russia. So there was this huge, like, plague happening, but Peter needed to pay his army, right? Only, the treasury, where all the coin was kept, was in Moscow I think. Anyway it was right inside plague infested land. So Peter, get this, he orders that the coins be washed."
John sat back in his chair, exceedingly pleased with the conversation. "I mean people back then, they didn't know about germs and stuff! They thought the plague was a curse from the gods, or bad air, or something. So this one guy, Peter the Great, he's like 'let's clean the coins before we use them to pay the army, because they've got bad stuff on them from being in plague-y old Moscow. It was the one of the first known examples of..." he burst into giggles. "Money laundering!"