The first bank to be robbed in the United States was the Bank of Pennsylvania in 1798. It was reported that the total stolen amount reached about $162,000. That would be roughly $1.9M to this day.

The robbery was believed to be an inside job because there was no clear sign of any forcible entry. Vaults back then were secured using locks. The blacksmith that changed the lock was Pat Lyon, who left Pennsylvania to escape from the yellow fever epidemic that swept Philadelphia at that time. Lyon suspected that a carpenter was responsible, and went back to to clear his name. But the authorities didn’t believe him and threw him in prison.

The real perpetrator turned out to be someone who had visited Lyon’s shop earlier, named Isaac Davis. He and the bank porter pulled off the heist. What was so stupid of them to do was, to deposit the stolen money into the same bank where they got it from. When confronted by police, Davis confessed to the crime. He surrendered all of it. But even after that confession, the authorities refused to release Lyon. Later, charges against him were fianlly dismissed. Lyon sued the bank and the officials. He got $12,000 as damage fees, for false imprisonment.