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Defacing paper money is not illegal, only defacing it with intent to render it unfit for circulation is. Those "where has this bill been?" websites where people
by dangrossman 14y ago
Defacing paper money is not illegal, only defacing it with intent to render it unfit for circulation is. Those "where has this bill been?" websites where people write/stamp the address onto the dollar are completely legal. Those machines at tourist cities that smash your pennies into local images are legal too; it's only illegal to destroy coinage for fraudulent purposes or to melt it down for the raw metals.
- quackerhacker 14y agoGreat point on the pennies, that totally skipped my mind. In regards to melting, this is funny to admit, when I was young, I used to believe that coins should be worth more than dollars, because if they ever lost their value, I'm pretty sure I'd have more use for the metal than paper.
- Domenic_S 14y ago> it's only illegal to destroy coinage for fraudulent purposes or to melt it down for the raw metals. It's more nuanced than that. Back in 1965, the Treasury prohibited exporting or melting of silver coins, but that prohibition has long since been rescinded. Currently it's unlawful to melt pennies or nickels, but not silver coins. Although silver coins (talking pre-1965 stuff here) trade for somewhere around and above spot value anyway, so melting is pointless.