Buying fake morgan dollars?

I just got a stack from china WITHOUT COPY on them! I wanted COPY so I can use them in a treasure hunt. Can I get into trouble using them??

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

You could... it's actually likely legal to BUY them, but it's clearly illegal to IMPORT them.

Buy a cheap set of Metal punches (Harbor Freight) and a small hammer and have fun!

 

Well you have already broken the law by importing them. Yes I know you expected them to be legally marked but that doesn't matter in the eyes of the law. As mentioned you could get the punches and mark them so they would be legal.

 

The civil Hobby Protection Act does not implicate gratuitous transfers of this sort. Criminal liability under the counterfeiting statute would only exist if you attempted to circulate the coins or otherwise defraud someone. Again, not applicable here. You're fine.

 

I disagree. The relevant statute is 15 U.S.C. 2101(b) which refers to importing non-compliant coins, "for introduction into or distribution in commerce, or the sale in commerce of any imitation numismatic item..." These aren't being imported for sale; thus, I do not think the prohibition applies.

 

Actually the FTC regs apply...

https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-i...rgn=div5&view=text&node=16:1.0.1.3.28&idno=16

It's definitely commerce, op bought them from a China seller.

Regardless, unlikely the FTC nor US Attorney will go after small fry...

But OP wanted them marked and can certsinly mark them himself. Then please come back and tell us how hard it really is to countermark a coin... By the 4th or 5th you should be able to be getting reasonable depth on the punches and decent alignment.

 

That's not what the statute and regulations say at all. There is no doubt that the buyer/seller are engaging in commerce, but that misses the point completely. The relevant question is whether the buyer is importing the pieces "for introduction into or distribution in commerce" or the actual "sale in commerce." There is no indication that the poster intended to sell the pieces or distribute them in commerce. The buyers haven't violated anything. The seller would have (on multiple levels) if U.S. law actually applied to him. Your interpretation would render most of the statutory verbiage nugatory. Had Congress intended what you suggested it would have banned importation without qualification.

 

I just wish you hadn’t bought them in the first place. Chinese counterfeits are a major problem for coin collectors. Sounds like what you bought is the stuff that dishonest sellers put on eBay and other auction sites.