Who's Right?

by Ron Judd on 10/01/10

Is it legal or illegal to make coin rings and other jewelry out of U.S. coins?  I guess it depends on who you ask.  Some people seem to think it's illegal and others see nothing wrong with it.  Who's right?

I'll state up front that I believe it's not illegal to make and sell Coin Ring Jewelry made from U.S. coins. The US Mint may frown on it but that's about it.  I offer the following in support of my position.    This is what The United States Department of the Treasury, has to say about it on their official website.  http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/faqs/Coins/Pages/edu_faq_coins_portraits.aspx  "Question: Is it illegal to damage or deface coins?" 

"Answer: Section 331 of Title 18 of the United States code provides criminal penalties for anyone who "fraudulently alters, defaces, mutilates impairs, diminishes, falsifies, scales, or lightens any of the coins coined at the Mints of the United States." This statute means that you may be violating the law if you change the appearance of the coin and fraudulently represent it to be other than the altered coin that it is. As a matter of policy, the U.S. Mint does not promote coloring, plating or altering U.S. coinage: however, there are no sanctions against such activity absent fraudulent intent"  

Essentially, the key word here is "fraudulently". You can drive a nail through a coin, paint it any color you want or bend it into a pretzel - but the moment to try to use that coin as currency,  you're breaking the law.  You can sell that altered coin as a collectable or a piece of jewelry but you can't use it to buy a Snickers bar. You can gold plate a V-nickel but you can't  pass it with the intention of making the store clerk think it's a $5 gold piece.  Modifying or mutilating any US coin is not illegal unless it is done to misrepresent the coins value.

The way laws are written they are sometimes ambiguous and the intent of the law is sometimes misunderstood.  If congress wanted to stop people from modifying or mutilating coins or using them to make coin ring jewelry they could do so.  There must be a good reason why they don't.

In 2006 Congress felt it was necessary to pass a law making it illegal to deface pennies and nickels by means of melting them down for profit.  They were very specific and allowed for the following exclusions. If it is for "educational, amusement, novelty, jewelry, and similar purposes as long as the volumes treated and the nature of the treatment makes it clear that such treatment is not intended as a means by which to profit solely from the value of the metal content of the coins"  it is ok.  (title 30, part 82 of the US Code of Federal Regulations).   This was a perfect opportunity for Congress to stop all modifying, or mutilation of any US coin yet they choose not to.

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