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Message:: [QUOTE="Caleb, post: 2122871, member: 32795"]With the exception of the “Martha Washington Test Pieces”, I think you will find that most US coins that are considered “Patterns” have a face value on them and are “legal Tender”.  “The coinage act of 1965” monetized all coins minted by our government, Trade dollars, half cents and “Patterns” coins fall into this category as “Legal Tender”.  Like I said earlier, ownership is a different question and like any US coin (or any other item that someone wants to say was stolen) the burden of proof would be on the complainant to establish that they still were the rightful owners of the item to the exclusion of all others that looked the same. Getting back to the 1974-D Aluminum cent, I guess the government could argue that “The Coinage Act of 1965” only applies to coins manufactured prior to the enactment of the law.  But to say that all “Patterns” have no monetary value when they are “Legal Tender” is just erroneous.  I have to wonder if in 1965 when the Government was changing the metal composition of some of our coinage, if this is why they started using the “Martha Washington” design without having a face value on the item.[/QUOTE]