hobo bills

[boston]

This is too funny:smilielol5:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/612007@N21/pool/
“Whoever mutilates, cuts, defaces, disfigures, or perforates, or unites or cements together, or does any other thing to any bank bill, draft, note, or other evidence of debt issued by any national banking association, or Federal Reserve bank, or the Federal Reserve System, with intent to render such bank bill, draft, note, or other evidence of debt unfit to be reissued, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six months, or both.”

Six months? That’s a little harsh. But people have been defacing U.S. currency for fun since it’s invention.

[Danny C]

Re-read and look at the "unfit to be reissued" part.'
Hobo's are not RE-ISSUED.

The idea is to make it illegal to turn a $10 bill into a $100 bill

A HOBO is not recognizable as a "nickle"

That's why the Gov't hasn't stopped this practice.

[Joe PAonessa]

Hi,

As a carver of hobo nickels and a long time collector of coins, I have often been asked about the legality of making them. The law mentioned in the first post is from Chapter 17 Section 333 of the U.S. Code, which deals with paper money, not the issue here. Section 331 deals with coins and is quoted below:

Sec. 331 Mutilation, diminution, and falsification of coins. Whoever fraudulently alters, defaces, mutilates, impairs, diminishes, falsifies, scales, or lightens any of the coins coined at the mints of the United States, or any foreign coins which are by law made current or in actual use or circulation as money within the United States; or whoever fraudulently possesses... shall be fined not more than $2,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both. (italics mine)

The key here is fraudulent intent. I can carve anything into a coin and sell it for whatever the market will bear, or just chop it into little bits because I like shiny things and everything is fine. BUT, if I take a nickel, thin it down in a rolling mill and punch out a dime size blank for the pop machine, that is fraudulent alteration and Uncle Sugar will not be happy.

Thanks for listening.

Joe Paonessa
America's greatest left handed hobo nickel carver...so far

[Danny C]

Yup, that's how I see it. Changing one denomination into another for profit.
Course, it could be argued that the nickle is now worth considerably more, but.......