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Quote from Woz: "They meet the specs of the U.S. government, so by law, these are legal tender. I have been spending them. You can get arrested for them, you c

Quote from Woz: "They meet the specs of the U.S. government, so by law, these are legal tender. I have been spending them. You can get arrested for them, you cannot get convicted because you're in the right." It is probably not something you should do unless you are prepared to pay for a good lawyer, and don't mind the risk of getting arrested

eru 2y ago
I don't think you need a good lawyer, because the case is pretty clear. But you do run the risk of annoying people and getting into some temporary legal trouble.
mrguyorama 2y ago
>They meet the specs of the U.S. government, so by law, these are legal tender. That's not how it works. North Korea is great at producing dollars that "meet the specs" but they are still counterfeit. The US dollar is not an open standard. Valid US currency is only produced by the mint. If you do something to a valid US dollar, it might still stay a valid US dollar, but that's not because they still "meet the specs". Meanwhile the law says >“whoever mutilates, cuts, defaces, disfigures, or perforates, or unites or cements together, or does any other thing to any bank bill, draft, note, or other evidence of debt issued by any national banking association, or Federal Reserve bank, or the Federal Reserve System, with intent to render such bank bill, draft, note, or other evidence of debt unfit to be reissued, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six months, or both.” 18 U.S.C. § 333.
- throwaway8153 2y ago
  > That's not how it works. North Korea is great at producing dollars that "meet the specs" but they are still counterfeit The quote from Steve Wozniak refers to an official sheet of dollar bills, purchased from the official source. I'm sure that he considers the source as part of the "specs", and is not referring to only the physical aspects. >“whoever mutilates, cuts, defaces, disfigures, or perforates, or unites or cements together, or does any other thing to any bank bill, draft, note, or other evidence of debt issued by any national banking association, or Federal Reserve bank, or the Federal Reserve System, with intent to render such bank bill, draft, note, or other evidence of debt unfit to be reissued, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six months, This doesn't apply here https://www.usmint.gov/help-center/faqs/paper-currency-and-engraved-prints.html https://www.usmint.gov/help-center/faqs/paper-currency-and-e... "Can I cut uncut currency sheets? What happens if the notes on my sheet were cut apart? Because the individual notes on uncut currency sheets are legal tender, they may be cut apart and spent. Were you to do this, they would only be valued at their face value, even though you would have paid more than their cumulative value for the uncut currency sheet."

eru 2y ago

I don't think you need a good lawyer, because the case is pretty clear. But you do run the risk of annoying people and getting into some temporary legal trouble.

mrguyorama 2y ago

>They meet the specs of the U.S. government, so by law, these are legal tender. That's not how it works. North Korea is great at producing dollars that "meet the specs" but they are still counterfeit. The US dollar is not an open standard. Valid US currency is only produced by the mint. If you do something to a valid US dollar, it might still stay a valid US dollar, but that's not because they still "meet the specs". Meanwhile the law says >“whoever mutilates, cuts, defaces, disfigures, or perforates, or unites or cements together, or does any other thing to any bank bill, draft, note, or other evidence of debt issued by any national banking association, or Federal Reserve bank, or the Federal Reserve System, with intent to render such bank bill, draft, note, or other evidence of debt unfit to be reissued, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six months, or both.” 18 U.S.C. § 333.

throwaway8153 2y ago
> That's not how it works. North Korea is great at producing dollars that "meet the specs" but they are still counterfeit The quote from Steve Wozniak refers to an official sheet of dollar bills, purchased from the official source. I'm sure that he considers the source as part of the "specs", and is not referring to only the physical aspects. >“whoever mutilates, cuts, defaces, disfigures, or perforates, or unites or cements together, or does any other thing to any bank bill, draft, note, or other evidence of debt issued by any national banking association, or Federal Reserve bank, or the Federal Reserve System, with intent to render such bank bill, draft, note, or other evidence of debt unfit to be reissued, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six months, This doesn't apply here https://www.usmint.gov/help-center/faqs/paper-currency-and-engraved-prints.html https://www.usmint.gov/help-center/faqs/paper-currency-and-e... "Can I cut uncut currency sheets? What happens if the notes on my sheet were cut apart? Because the individual notes on uncut currency sheets are legal tender, they may be cut apart and spent. Were you to do this, they would only be valued at their face value, even though you would have paid more than their cumulative value for the uncut currency sheet."