Thread: hobo bills
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Old 04-14-2008, 04:52 PM
Joe PAonessa Joe PAonessa is offline
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Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 91
Default Re: hobo bills

Hi,

As a carver of hobo nickels and a long time collector of coins, I have often been asked about the legality of making them. The law mentioned in the first post is from Chapter 17 Section 333 of the U.S. Code, which deals with paper money, not the issue here. Section 331 deals with coins and is quoted below:

Sec. 331 Mutilation, diminution, and falsification of coins. Whoever fraudulently alters, defaces, mutilates, impairs, diminishes, falsifies, scales, or lightens any of the coins coined at the mints of the United States, or any foreign coins which are by law made current or in actual use or circulation as money within the United States; or whoever fraudulently possesses... shall be fined not more than $2,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both. (italics mine)

The key here is fraudulent intent. I can carve anything into a coin and sell it for whatever the market will bear, or just chop it into little bits because I like shiny things and everything is fine. BUT, if I take a nickel, thin it down in a rolling mill and punch out a dime size blank for the pop machine, that is fraudulent alteration and Uncle Sugar will not be happy.

Thanks for listening.

Joe Paonessa
America's greatest left handed hobo nickel carver...so far
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