Question About Private Mint Stamping Monetary Values...

A

Alice de Baggins

New Member
First off, I'm new here so I apologize if I'm breaking any rules or if this is the wrong forum. I registered because I have a question I wasn't really able to answer with Google searches and figured you guys and gals might know. My question is: is it legal for a private mint (i.e. not government-owned or contracted) to stamp a monetary value onto their products? In particular I was looking at:

http://www.jmbullion.com/1-oz-10-banknote-copper-bar/

This product clearly says things like "The United States of America", "Ten Dollars", and "United States Note" which could make it confusing whether or not its legal tender. Can this company legally do this?
 
Welcome to the forum

I wouldve thought it wouldnt be legal if if was a coin, but maybe okay for a bar
 
As Long as it does not state as legal tender which is legal in Singapore. I am not sure USA law.

Do you view this as legal tender?
 
No idea about the legality but my guess would be that it's OK as it's not a coin. I mean think about how many everyday items have bank notes printed on them (T-shirts, phone cases, etc). These are not prohibited because they can't be confused with legal tender. I would argue the same principle applies to a copper bar. If you printed a numeric value on a small silver round you might cross the line of what is tolerated.
 
andrewlee10, no I don't view this as legal tender. However, I was thinking it'd be easy for someone to mistake it as such and lose money. After all, the coins minted in the U.S. from gold/silver are still legal tender even if their metal value exceeds their stamped value. As such, they can be used to buy things. In the same way, I could see someone using these and making that argument (even if its false).
 
It's obviously a facsimile so I presume it is legal; not unlike the $20 clad money boxes.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top