Is it ok to melt US coins

If you live in any country other tha USA can you melt US coins?

 

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As far as I know, if you own the coin, you can do anything that you want to it short of defrauding another with it. The one exception to this rule is melting pre 1982 copper cents.

 

You can not melt us pennies or nickels anywhere, if the us found out u were melting there pennies outside there country probably nobody will notice, but airplanes only let you take less than 60 pennies, and are very strict about it.

 

Don't think that anybody could keep me from melting coins. Here in Germany you may destroy what you own, including coins or notes. Of course that implies that you are either the owner, or have the owner's permission. (In the second case it may be a good idea to have something in writing about this. ) So if some of the money I want to destroy happens to be from a country where destroying money is illegal, I would (a) not destroy the money in public, or (b) have no plans to visit that country ...

Christian

 

Good Plan as the long arm of the law will catch up...and with home land security here in the U.S. not much gets by as big brother is watching all the time!

 

As for the original question, "other than US" would cover about 200 countries. But there sure are differences; in Canada for example some care is in order: "No person shall, except in accordance with a licence granted by the Minister, melt down, break up or use otherwise than as currency any coin that is current and legal tender in Canada." http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-52/page-2.html

Christian

 

Source, please.

 

I have hauled whole bags of Ukie coins back to the USA in my carryon - like 20lbs of change I accumulated over the many moons I lived there.

 

If you really want to draw the long arm of the law and get a huge fine try bringing the "Kinder" chocolates from Europe to the USA - they can fine you up to $2500 for bringing those in because they have a toy in the centre of the candy - prohibited since 1938 in the USA. It is a real PITA because I have one kid that really likes those, but we have to eat them all in country. I stick to smuggling vodka and champagne only.

 

There legal now! http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nat...-chocolate-egg-approved-fda-article-1.1290804

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/business/2013/03/toy-filled-chocolate-eggs-legal-in-us/

https://www.google.com/search?q=kin...40,d.dmg&fp=db0390bbaea1223a&biw=1366&bih=681

 

Don't know about the legality but I wonder if it makes sense economically. The only coins that might make sense would be copper cents and nickles. If you have any acqusition costs involved it would cut into your profits. Of course you do know that it would be stupid to melt clad dimes, quarters and halves. The value of the copper involved would be much less than face value.
If it's 90% silver, there are no laws against it.

 

I toss US copper cents in with all the other scrap copper coins from all over the world into sacks and visit the smelters 3 times a year.
I took 88 kilo`s last time in copper, brass and nickel and got £422

 

With Predator drones flying all over the world, and purportedly even the USA you'd be better to not publicise as much.

 

They don`t fly over here, they can`t afford the aviation gas :devil:

 

Law enforcement is probably more concerned about copper wire thieves.

 

Apparently not. Ferrero's product is still illegal in the US. Only a suspiciously similar product made by an American company seems to be OK with the American authorities.

Christian

 

Folks US laws apply in the US they do not apply in other countries. It would only be illegal to melt US coins in another country if that country passed a law forbidding it, and in most cases they really don't care if you melt someone else's coins.

The US law forbidding the melting of cents and non-silver five cent pieces places a restriction on the amount of cent and nickels you can carry out of the country, it's $5 face.

 

I thought you could melt coins as long as you didn't sepperate the individual alloys.

 

is it possible to melt copper pennies into any form other than a penny and sell it as scrap copper. i know it's not legal. how would the gov't know.