Timeline for Is it legal to sell suspected or proven counterfeit US currency?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
15 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 15, 2020 at 22:30 | vote | accept | Criggie | ||
| Feb 15, 2020 at 22:30 | comment | added | Criggie | Some of these comments need to be put in an answer - they may not directly answer the "is it legal YN" part but are highly relevant and should be made permanent. They're not "improvement or clarification of the Q" | |
| Feb 15, 2020 at 21:39 | comment | added | supercat | @NateEldredge: I suppose another related question would be what the procedure would be for giving some kind of receipt in case the person who was in possession of the note held it on behalf of a business. If a clerk ends up $20 short but with a receipt from the treasury department saying that a counterfeit $20 note was taken, the business owner may not be happy, but should regard that situation rather differently than if $20 was missing with nothing to show for it. | |
| Feb 15, 2020 at 21:15 | comment | added | Nate Eldredge | @supercat: I don't know. The statute certainly doesn't make any such exception, but there may be caselaw or regulations holding that "counterfeit" should not be interpreted to include such notes. Of course, the agent could also use their discretion and decide not to bother seizing the note in the first place - which is probably what would happen if it was clearly marked. There is also a provision in the law where you can appeal to the Secretary of the Treasury, who can return the note if they deem it "reasonable and just" to do so. | |
| Feb 15, 2020 at 19:50 | comment | added | supercat | @NateEldredge: If a counterfeit note was conspicuously and indelibly marked in such a way that it could not be plausibly palmed off as genuine, would the agent still have the authority to seize it? I would think that some businesses might benefit from having some specimen counterfeit bills mounted in frames to cover their markings, along with real bills mounted similarly, to train employees in how to tell the difference [it would be unlikely that anyone would accept a frame-mounted bill as tender, so the fact that the frame covered up the markings wouldn't really "disguise" them] | |
| Feb 15, 2020 at 7:57 | history | became hot network question | |||
| Feb 15, 2020 at 1:26 | history | edited | Criggie | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
Clarify and limit range of question
|
| Feb 15, 2020 at 1:15 | comment | added | Nate Eldredge | Another issue with trying to sell it: under 18 USC 492, any agent of the US Treasury has the authority to confiscate your counterfeit note, without compensating you. So if you aren't discreet when you sell it, you may find an agent show up to do just that. Likewise, any buyer would incur the same risk - that the Treasury may confiscate the souvenir he just paid for - and this risk may tend to decrease the amount he's willing to pay. | |
| Feb 15, 2020 at 1:01 | comment | added | ohwilleke | I've edited to U.S. only because the photograph and the link inspiring the question from another SE forum both pertain only to U.S. currency. If the question asker wants to ask about another country they may do so separately, and despite the comment seeking a broader scope, it would otherwise be a close worthy question as too broad. | |
| Feb 15, 2020 at 1:00 | history | edited | ohwilleke |
edited tags
|
|
| Feb 15, 2020 at 0:59 | answer | added | ohwilleke | timeline score: 15 | |
| Feb 15, 2020 at 0:34 | comment | added | Nate Eldredge | My opinion is that it should be limited to a single country per question. If you must know about multiple countries, ask multiple questions (but be prepared that an excessive number may annoy people or run you into rate limits). | |
| Feb 15, 2020 at 0:11 | comment | added | Nate Eldredge | Making the question global makes it too broad, and I would vote to close it in that case. Each country has its own laws and there's no reason to think one answer would cover all of them; you're asking for hundreds of answers. | |
| Feb 15, 2020 at 0:09 | comment | added | Nate Eldredge | For the US, this is definitely a crime if done "with the intent that the same be passed, published, or used as true and genuine", 18 USC 473. Does the holder of the notes have such intention? | |
| Feb 14, 2020 at 23:45 | history | asked | Criggie | CC BY-SA 4.0 |