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https://youtu.be/_WHRWLnVm_M?si=4pNg4KZgTYwbsjlE

He didn't spend the penny, he just presented it before the camera. He asked if it is in fact counterfeit money if the original it is copying does not exist yet.

ohwilleke
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R-Obsessive
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2 Answers2

4

It's counterfeit if it resembles a "... coin (whether on one side only or on both) to such an extent that it is reasonably capable of passing for a ... coin of that description".

"This looks like a real penny" -> the counterfeit penny is illegal.

Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981, section 28 Meaning of “counterfeit”:

(1) For the purposes of this Part of this Act a thing is a counterfeit of a currency note or of a protected coin—

(a) if it is not a currency note or a protected coin but resembles a currency note or protected coin (whether on one side only or on both) to such an extent that it is reasonably capable of passing for a currency note or protected coin of that description; or

(b) if it is a currency note or protected coin which has been so altered that it is reasonably capable of passing for a currency note or protected coin of some other description.

It would be an incredible loophole if the counterfeiter need only press coins or print notes with future dates to get away with it.

Lag
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0

Old Coinage out of circulation

IF the coin was for something like an italian Lira (no longer valid coin), then MünzG (Coinage-Law) §11(1)1 would apply:

§ 11 Münzschutz (1) Es ist verboten,

  1. außer Kurs gesetzte oder sonst als Zahlungsmittel ungültig gewordene Münzen

a) nachzumachen oder zu verfälschen oder

b) solche nachgemachten oder verfälschten Münzen zum Verkauf vorrätig zu halten, feilzuhalten, in den Verkehr zu bringen oder in das Inland einzuführen;

  1. Gegenstände herzustellen, zum Verkauf vorrätig zu halten, feilzuhalten oder in den Verkehr zu bringen, wenn sie den Anschein erwecken, als wären sie früher gültige Münzen gewesen. Satz 1 gilt nicht für Stücke, die als Nachahmungen gestaltet oder vor dem Jahr 1850 hergestellt worden sind.

(2) Die Verbote gemäß Absatz 1 gelten auch für ausländische Münzen.

It is prohibited,

  1. [regarding] Coins that have been taken out of circulation or have otherwise become invalid as a means of payment

a) to imitate or falsify/modify or

b) to keep such imitated or falsified/modified coins in stock for sale, to offer them for sale, to put them into circulation, or to import them into the country;

  1. to produce, hold for sale, offer for sale or place on the market items that appear to have been previously valid coins. Sentence 1 does not apply to pieces designed as imitations or manufactured before 1850.

(2) The prohibitions in accordance with paragraph 1 also apply to foreign coins.

A 2027 Italian Lira coin would imitate or modify a coin that is no longer a valid piece of payment, thus it is illegal to be made in the first place.

Current Coinage in circulation

For a current coinage, Germany and all of the Euro countries do understand British Pounds to be a coin in circulation that is used for payment - unlike Krugerrand. As such, StGB §146 is possibly applicable, as some of the required facts are true:

  • There is a valid coin that is imitated
  • The imitation is hard to distinguish and might not be noticed
  • As such it would probably be accepted as cash

However, §146 has a mens rea requirement in that the imitated coin needs to be acquired or made with the plan or intent to bring it into circulation. Yet there is also a single strict liability prong in §146(1)1:

(1) Mit Freiheitsstrafe nicht unter einem Jahr wird bestraft, wer

  1. Geld in der Absicht nachmacht, daß es als echt in Verkehr gebracht oder daß ein solches Inverkehrbringen ermöglicht werde, oder Geld in dieser Absicht so verfälscht, daß der Anschein eines höheren Wertes hervorgerufen wird,

(1) Someone is punished with a prison sentence of not less than one year, who

  1. imitates money with the intention of placing it on the market as genuine or enabling such a placing on the market, or falsifies money with this intention in such a way as to create the appearance of a higher value,

The enabling is strict liability and as such the maker of such an imitation coin - which might but for the possibility to mistake it for real money count as art or game currency - needs to take precautions to prevent the coin from getting into circulation as a counterfeit coin, or clearly demark it as a fake or copy by clear stamping to make it a game coinage.

For game currency, there is a bunch of coinage regulations to obey

Trish
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