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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;SteveCaruso, post: 1417802, member: 37497&quot;]A counterfeit is merely anything made with the <i>criminal intent to defraud</i>, otherwise it&#039;s simply an art piece (which covers reproductions, fantasy pieces, etc.). This does mean that a counterfeit&#039;s legality can come into question as many times as it changes hands depending solely upon the moral fiber of its most current bearer.</p><p><br /></p><p>That said, the only people who are responsible for marking their products with &quot;COPY&quot; under the Hobby Protection Act are either 1) manufacturers of numismatic replicas living in the US for the distribution or introduction into commerce or 2) importers of numismatic replicas into the US for the distribution or introduction into commerce.</p><p><br /></p><p>If you buy a coin press and start punching out reproductions of pennies in aluminum and distribute them in an effort to raise awareness about alternate metals for currency but fail to mark them &quot;COPY&quot; you&#039;re in trouble. (In that scenario, you&#039;re a <i>manufacturer</i>.)</p><p><br /></p><p>If you purchase some unmarked replicas from China and&nbsp; sell them <i>as</i> reproductions (with full disclosure) without stamping them, you&#039;re in&nbsp; trouble (*cough!* eBay!). (In that scenario, you&#039;re an <i>importer</i>.)</p><p><br /></p><p>On the other hand, if you come across a counterfeit &quot;in the wild&quot; you are not legally compelled to mark them with anything (although, I&#039;m not arguing against it being a good idea) and they are perfectly legal to own. (You&#039;re neither the manufacturer, or the importer.)</p><p><br /></p><p>The only thing that is <i>compulsory</i> for a collector under the law is being <i>honest</i> about what you&#039;re offering for sale or barter, otherwise you commit <i>fraud</i>.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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