Hobo Laws?

[finn]

Hi
I keep getting asked the Question about Hobo Nickels … is it not against the Law to carve on or deface a nickel or any article of USA currency?

I looked on http://www.hobonickels.org/
But could not find the info . does any one els know if its ok or not to do this kind of carving?
Thank you for your time.

here is one i just finished.

 

[threefingerdave]

Nice nickel Finn
I think I read something that it is ok to carve them but i do not remember where
Dave

 

[Mike Cirelli]

It's not against the law to carve a nickel and sell it for what ever you want. It is against the law to use it as currency after it is carved.

 

[Billzach]

Mike
Let the forum know who has one of your carvings..[ penny carving ]

 

[Mike Cirelli]

All of the above is true. But when you carve a nickel your not mutilating it (well we won't tell anybody about those ones) mutilating would be to melt them down for metal content. In most case your not diminishing the value, most are not going to sell them for a nickel, and your not using it as currency so your not fraudulently passing on as such.

I sent an engraved penny to President Bush and I wasn't arrested.

 

[gtsport]

Coin Mutilation

I do nickel carving demonstrations at coin shows and here is what I tell people. "I can take a nickel, carve a design on it, hit it with an axe, paint it, nail it to a tree and then wear it as a ring and I haven't broken the law. If I take the same nickel, put it through a rolling mill, punch out a dime sized blank and put it in a coffee machine, that is illegal." It is the fraudulent defacement that is the problem. Of course, if I claim the design I carved into the nickel is a genuine mint product, I've done that fraud thing again. In a nutshell, Carve Away!

Joe Paonessa

 

[Steve Adams]

The key word as already pointed out is fraudulent. As long as the word fraudulently remains in the legal blurb, we appear to be safe. The U S Mint could choose to change this, but has not, so I believe we can stay active in our art form. The Mint would have taken action by now had we been participating in an illegal activity. It would not surprise me to see some push for a ban on coin carving, for not everyone likes our art form. With the amount of people carving coins, I think we'd make a pretty good case for keeping it alive though. There are other art forms using coins. I saw a guy on TV using thousands of nickels to make a chair, then of course there is a wide use in jewelery. I'm carving until some U S government official says I can't. Uncle Sam gets a cut of what I do anyway, so he probably won't complain.

 

[sdcoxx]

Finn,
Good looking nickels...
Good question.
Thanks for both.
Stephen

 

[coincutter]

its against the law to change the denomination

there are several new laws re coins this year concerning nickels pennies etc
interestingly enough they are on the us mint website which is probably the only true source for legal guidance and BS
interestingly enough you can only get caught aryying so many nickels
you can't export them to other countries - that will put a crimp on carvers in other countries as it may be a felony now to sell and ship them coins
its all about the metal being worth more than the coins
potential smelting and such

same senerio doesnt apply to printed money as it is always valuable and useful as toilet paper regardless of it's buying power

with the exception of the new paper euros which i understand can be reprinted three times while in semi circulation so the value can be adjusted with the market

the metal ones are secure as they are too costly to restamp

i think it's safe to assume that a lot of carvers mulilate nickels till they get the process down or give up

 

[finn]

thank you for your answers.
i will keep carving .

p.s.
don't steal any wooden nickle's

 

[Peter E]

I like those carvings very much Finn.

Hope to see more of them.

Peter

 

[gtsport]

Illegal coin mods

I don't have the information right in front of me, but as I recall, the gov-mint did outlaw any kind of cutting on coins in the early part of the 20th century. This was mainly due to the love token and pressed out liberty coins being made, as well as the elongated coins turned out for fairs and such. The law only lasted a few years, maybe the people in charge realized that since their investment in making the coin was less than face value, every one removed from circulation was pure profit. One final note in our favor. The U.S. mint has marketed "coin jewelry", watches made with walking liberty half dollars, cuff links made from Mercury dimes in the past, and they still sell spoons made with state quarters.

Joe Paonessa

 

[Marrinan]

Speaking of coin carving, I was looking on the net a while back and found a coin cutter (saws out coins for the turist trade) he sells some beautiful coins from other countries that could present some real opportuities for you very talented artists check out http://www.coincutter.com/framestart.htm
Fred