1944 nickel with no mint mark

I think he has a Henning nickel, congratulations.

 

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Thank you. I was looking at nickels and I found a 1944 with the p mint mark so I logged it. About 2 hours latter I found the nickel with no mint mark .I just thought Philly had minted both that year .That was the first year they had used a mint mark .
Any way I looked it up and found out they didn't mint any with out mint marks that year which lead me to Henning .

 

Did you weigh it? Dont they also stick to a magnet?

 

First year they used the P mintmark was 1942, and Philadelphia did make 5 cent pieces with and without the mintmark that year.

 

I have a question about this coin which is gonna get more answers than fleas onna hound dogs back. Here goes.
If this coin is a "Henning" and known to be counterfeit, is it Ill legal to own? Is counterfeit currency or and other American or foreign counterfeits ill legal to own? I am just asking because I have "heard" it's LEGAL to own them IF you never present them as real currency or Money of any kind and announce and label the item as Counterfeit. Please let me know I want to avoid any problems with secret service, Treasury Dept, FBI or popeye the sailor man. Thanks folks I KNOW you folks can help. I have asked dozens of folks from Flea Mkts to banks and even a cop or two which gave me the evil eye.

 

Dont spend it. Lol

 

It is kind of a strange situation. They are illegal to spend, selling them is questionable, but they are legal to hold...UNLESS a Treasury agent asks you to turn it over to them. If they do then it is ILLEGAL not to hand it over.

 

Thank you conder, best answer yet. I was kinda walking along those lines on this. Thought maybe there was a Numismatist Lawyer that could shed light to this touchy subject.

 

I remember a thread not too long ago where someone was given a waiver of some sort because counterfeits were his focus and he used them to educate...formal classes, etc....
...anyway, something along those lines...Spark

 

I like History of coins and found a 50 cent piece that was being copied (counterfeited) in Canada because they had a shortage of coins (so the tale goes) soon the Mint changed the reverse of the coin but the person(s) in Canada didn't know or care but soon stopped because they could now be traced easier. I am not sure if the story is true or not but the coin sure is.

 

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/counterfeits-and-the-law.261150/page-3
http://www.theblackcabinet.org/2015/03/01/counterfeit-marking-requirements/
http://www.icgcoin.com/about/the-holder/the-educational-slab-for-altered-and-counterfeit-coins/
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/485 (note: "Whoever falsely makes, forges, or counterfeits any coin or bar in resemblance or similitude of any coin of a denomination higher than 5 cents . . .)
https://www.federalcharges.com/counterfeiting-laws-charges/
"Essentially, creating a phony copy of anything and attempting to pass it off as the real things will be considered counterfeiting."

 

everything leads to "profit" in these links. I have no intentions of giving the coin away or spending it or passing it off as real. To me it's History whether its good or bad it's still History and a teaching tool to show what folks can/will do when the opportunity knocks.

 

Does this mean the Henning nickels are not, strictly speaking, illegal at all?

Of course, today, with making a nickel costing more than 5 cents, the mint might welcome a little help.

 

after reading this thread i now have an "itch" to search all my pre 1960 Jefferson nickels, got a few thousand so maybe i'll get lucky an find me a Henning, got a few hundred wartime nickels i'll be double checking as well...

 

No. If you tried to spend this Henning as a real nickel, you'd be committing fraud and could be arrested. If you simple own it, or give it to someone, no "intent" is there, so not illegal IMO, but I'm not a lawyer so take my advice with a grain of salt.

 

you can own them, but illegal to spend it as it's a counterfeit, and illegal to sell unless you stamp the word "COPY" on it...

 

But the law quoted in post 31 said it was illegal to make any denomination higher than 5 cents. I can see where trying to spend it or sell it as genuine is fraud, but what about actually making it? If that law is the current, in-force code, then 1 cent and 5 cent coins are not covered.

 

go for it! and in 75 or so years you may be in history with a story and coin named after you!

 

my son could be roll searching for "Neal Nickels"...

 

here are pictures of the coin I mentioned. Even the edge where reeds should be was wrong. says "fifty cents" note partial hole I am guessing for testing in fake coin