Is this something, or was it stamped this way after leaving the mint?

Hoarder

I discovered this in change and figure someone stamped it after it left the mint. Am I right?

coinbuf

Yes a common novelty item that is sold in souvenir shops and truck stops around the country.

JBK

@Staircoins said:

@JBK said:

@spitlist said:
Isn't there some sort of law against defacing US currency?

Yes, but those laws apply to "currency", as in paper money.

Alterations, including counterstamps, are perfectly legal on coins as long as they are not done for fraudulent purposes or for commercial advertising.

(This is not legal advice, just information derived from years of research).

The law against fraudulently defacing US currency applies to both coins and paper money..

https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title18/part1/chapter17&edition=prelim#:~:text=§333.&text=Whoever%20mutilates%2C%20cuts%2C%20defaces%2C,2146%20.)

If you want to reinvent the wheel and try to do the research from scratch, feel free to do so, but you'll need to read and understand all relevant sections of the law. But others have already sorted all this out.

BTW, it is illegal to intentionally render a US banknote unsuitable for reissuance.

Accidentally destroy a piece of currency and you're OK. Intentionally write or stamp something on a bill that does not render it unsuitable for circulation and you're OK. To break the law you need to do both.

There is no similar prohibition for coins.

(See legal disclaimer above).

Hoarder

I found this in change and figured that it was stamped after it left the mint. Am I correct?

Hoarder

Isn't there some sort of law against defacing US currency?

TomB

These were very common novelty items during the Bicentennial celebration. I recall buying a roll of fifty cents where each one had a different state stamped onto them and I think I paid 75-cents or a dollar for it back in 1975 or 1976. They are common enough that I don't think there is any premium for them.

JBK

@spitlist said:
Isn't there some sort of law against defacing US currency?

Yes, but those laws apply to "currency", as in paper money.

Alterations, including counterstamps, are perfectly legal on coins as long as they are not done for fraudulent purposes or for commercial advertising.

(This is not legal advice, just information derived from years of research).

Staircoins

@JBK said:

@spitlist said:
Isn't there some sort of law against defacing US currency?

Yes, but those laws apply to "currency", as in paper money.

Alterations, including counterstamps, are perfectly legal on coins as long as they are not done for fraudulent purposes or for commercial advertising.

(This is not legal advice, just information derived from years of research).

The law against fraudulently defacing US currency applies to both coins and paper money..

https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title18/part1/chapter17&edition=prelim#:~:text=§333.&text=Whoever%20mutilates%2C%20cuts%2C%20defaces%2C,2146%20.)

Sapyx

@Staircoins said:

@JBK said:

@spitlist said:
Isn't there some sort of law against defacing US currency?

Yes, but those laws apply to "currency", as in paper money.

Alterations, including counterstamps, are perfectly legal on coins as long as they are not done for fraudulent purposes or for commercial advertising.

(This is not legal advice, just information derived from years of research).

The law against fraudulently defacing US currency applies to both coins and paper money..

https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title18/part1/chapter17&edition=prelim#:~:text=§333.&text=Whoever%20mutilates%2C%20cuts%2C%20defaces%2C,2146%20.)

It all hinges on the interpretation of Section 331. Specifically, in this clause:

Whoever fraudulently alters, defaces, mutilates, impairs, diminishes, falsifies, scales, or lightens any of the coins coined at the mints of the United States...

...the question hinges on whether or not the word "fraudulently" applies. The general interpretation of this law is that the adverb "fraudulently" applies to all of the following verbs. That is, "fraudulently alters, fraudulently defaces, fraudulently mutilates, fraudulently impairs..." etc. In other words, altering mutilating and defacing coins is OK, so long as you're not attempting to defraud anybody by doing so. And counterstamping patriotic designs onto pennies, or even flattening the coin in one of those elongated penny machines at tourist traps, is not "fraud". It's "art".

Paper money has it's own law (Section 333), specifically prohibiting the deliberate mutilation of banknotes for any reason. Art is not an excuse.

BLUEJAYWAY

@JBK said:

@Staircoins said:

@JBK said:

@spitlist said:
Isn't there some sort of law against defacing US currency?

Yes, but those laws apply to "currency", as in paper money.

Alterations, including counterstamps, are perfectly legal on coins as long as they are not done for fraudulent purposes or for commercial advertising.

(This is not legal advice, just information derived from years of research).

The law against fraudulently defacing US currency applies to both coins and paper money..

https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title18/part1/chapter17&edition=prelim#:~:text=§333.&text=Whoever%20mutilates%2C%20cuts%2C%20defaces%2C,2146%20.)

If you want to reinvent the wheel and try to do the research from scratch, feel free to do so, but you'll need to read and understand all relevant sections of the law. But others have already sorted all this out.

BTW, it is illegal to intentionally render a US banknote unsuitable for reissuance.

Accidentally destroy a piece of currency and you're OK. Intentionally write or stamp something on a bill that does not render it unsuitable for circulation and you're OK. To break the law you need to do both.

There is no similar prohibition for coins.

(See legal disclaimer above).

Always wondered about those stamped "Wheres George" bills. Their legality.

JBK

@BLUEJAYWAY said:

@JBK said:

@Staircoins said:

@JBK said:

@spitlist said:
Isn't there some sort of law against defacing US currency?

Yes, but those laws apply to "currency", as in paper money.

Alterations, including counterstamps, are perfectly legal on coins as long as they are not done for fraudulent purposes or for commercial advertising.

(This is not legal advice, just information derived from years of research).

The law against fraudulently defacing US currency applies to both coins and paper money..

https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title18/part1/chapter17&edition=prelim#:~:text=§333.&text=Whoever%20mutilates%2C%20cuts%2C%20defaces%2C,2146%20.)

If you want to reinvent the wheel and try to do the research from scratch, feel free to do so, but you'll need to read and understand all relevant sections of the law. But others have already sorted all this out.

BTW, it is illegal to intentionally render a US banknote unsuitable for reissuance.

Accidentally destroy a piece of currency and you're OK. Intentionally write or stamp something on a bill that does not render it unsuitable for circulation and you're OK. To break the law you need to do both.

There is no similar prohibition for coins.

(See legal disclaimer above).

Always wondered about those stamped "Wheres George" bills. Their legality.

That situation is part of the basis for my understanding of the laws.

Early on someone tried to get the Where's George organizer in trouble and the Secret Service determined that the project might violate the law because it might be construed as commercial advertising since the website sold the rubber stamps.

When he removed the rubber stamps from the website all was good with the Secret Service. People were free to have their own rubber stamps made locally. Since the messages did not make the bills unsuitable for reissuancee, it was all legal. In fact the whole project revolved around them circulating.