# Legality of Copying U.S. Currency **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 15, 2008, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-copying-u-s-currency/463636 "2008-09-15T01:06:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-copying-u-s-currency/463636/1 "2008-09-15T01:06:59Z")
In research about the topic of the legality of making photocopies of U.S. currency, I read something that I need help interpreting. It is Title 18, Part 1, Chapter 25, Section 474 of the United States Code. The entire text can be found in many places but it basically says it is a class B felony to copy or print money, possess the plates, ect. It’s the last sentence of the section that I have a question about. It reads; (b) For purposes of this section, the term “analog, digital, or electronic image” includes any analog, digital, or electronic method used for the making, execution, acquisition, scanning, capturing, recording, retrieval, transmission, or reproduction of any obligation or security, unless such use is authorized by the Secretary of the Treasury. The Secretary shall establish a system (pursuant to section 504) to ensure that the legitimate use of such electronic methods and retention of such reproductions by businesses, hobbyists, press and others shall not be unduly restricted. I’m wondering if, by “unduly restricted”, this allows for movie or television productions to legally create ‘funny money’ for scenes requiring the depiction of large sums of cash. Or if a homemade counterfeit bill could be legally possessed by an academic lecturing on the subject of counterfeit money. Or if a reporter was doing a story on counterfeit currency and came into possession of such a bill as part of his research. Anyone who has had experience with this issue or is able to understand legalize is welcome to reply and/or recommend further reading. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-copying-u-s-currency/463636/2 "2008-09-15T05:10:10Z")
We’ve covered this several times previously. The first few words of section 472 are critical _“Whoever, with intent to defraud, …”_. So that provision allows most of the people you mentioned – academics doing research, journalists investigating a story, etc. – to legally obtain and hold counterfeit currency. If they actually passed the counterfeits, they would be in trouble. They might do so as part of a study to see how carefully cashiers check money they receive, but they would have to retrieve the counterfeits & replace them with valid money before they got passed on, to avoid the “intent to defraud” clause. I have seen consultants who give training sessions to bank cashiers who have a whole display board of various examples of counterfeit bills that they use in their training. And movie studios generally just use real money. They aren’t poor, after all. Even if it’s a huge stack of bills, they only have to use real bills on the top of the stack; the rest can be paper cut to the appropriate size & color. If it’s a scene where the bills might not be controllable (like a stack of money going out the window of a high building), they use appropriately sized & colored paper for the long shots of it falling, and then real bills for the close-up shots. Frankly, the Secret Service is too busy dealing with real counterfeiters to hassle movie companies, journalists, etc. ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-copying-u-s-currency/463636/3 "2008-09-15T13:25:27Z")
So I could make a color copy of a bill, front and back at the actual size of the real bill, and carry it around in my pocket. As long as I did not try to pass it, I would not be in violation of U.S. law. In other words, the act of creating the copy is not illegal? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-copying-u-s-currency/463636/4 "2008-09-15T13:43:26Z")
> [@randwill](#): > > So I could make a color copy of a bill, front and back at the actual size of the real bill, and carry it around in my pocket. As long as I did not try to pass it, I would not be in violation of U.S. law. In other words, the act of creating the copy is not illegal? I don’t know about the legality of this, but I do know that actually making a color copy can be pretty difficult. If you stick a bill on any of the industrial color copiers (like, at a Office Max), it will refuse to make a copy. All copier manufacturers are no required to detect currency and refuse to proceed. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-copying-u-s-currency/463636/5 "2008-09-15T14:10:00Z")
> [@](#): > > The Secretary shall establish a system > ( **pursuant to section 504** ) to ensure that the legitimate use of such > electronic methods and retention of such reproductions by > businesses, hobbyists, press and others shall not be unduly > restricted. This refers us to section 504, which says: > [@](#): > > Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the following are permitted: > (1) The printing, publishing, or importation, or the making or importation of the necessary plates for such printing or publishing, of illustrations of— > (A) postage stamps of the United States, > (B) revenue stamps of the United States, > (C) any other obligation or other security of the United States, and > (D) postage stamps, revenue stamps, notes, bonds, and any other obligation or other security of any foreign government, bank, or corporation. > Illustrations permitted by the foregoing provisions of this section shall be made in accordance with the following conditions— > (i) all illustrations shall be in black and white, except that illustrations of postage stamps issued by the United States or by any foreign government and stamps issued under the Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act of 1934 may be in color; > (ii) all illustrations (including illustrations of uncanceled postage stamps in color and illustrations of stamps issued under the Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act of 1934 in color) shall be of a size less than three-fourths or more than one and one-half, in linear dimension, of each part of any matter so illustrated which is covered by subparagraph (A), (B), (C), or (D) of this paragraph, except that black and white illustrations of postage and revenue stamps issued by the United States or by any foreign government and colored illustrations of canceled postage stamps issued by the United States may be in the exact linear dimension in which the stamps were issued; and > (iii) the negatives and plates used in making the illustrations shall be destroyed after their final use in accordance with this section. > **The Secretary of the Treasury shall prescribe regulations to permit color illustrations of such currency of the United States as the Secretary determines may be appropriate for such purposes.** > (2) The provisions of this section shall not permit the reproduction of illustrations of obligations or other securities, by or through electronic methods used for the acquisition, recording, retrieval, transmission, or reproduction of any obligation or other security, unless such use is authorized by the Secretary of the Treasury. The Secretary shall establish a system to ensure that the legitimate use of such electronic methods and retention of such reproductions by businesses, hobbyists, press or others shall not be unduly restricted. > (3) The making or importation of motion-picture films, microfilms, or slides, for projection upon a screen or for use in telecasting, of postage and revenue stamps and other obligations and securities of the United States, and postage and revenue stamps, notes, bonds, and other obligations or securities of any foreign government, bank, or corporation. No prints or other reproductions shall be made from such films or slides, except for the purposes of paragraph (1), without the permission of the Secretary of the Treasury. > For the purposes of this section the term “postage stamp” includes postage meter stamps. [18 U.S. Code § 504 - Printing and filming of United States and foreign obligations and securities | U.S. Code | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute](http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode18/usc_sec_18_00000504----000-.html) The Secretary of the Treasury has adopted regulations under the bolded section: > [@](#): > > § 411.1 Color illustrations authorized. > (a) Notwithstanding any provision of > chapter 25 of Title 18 of the U.S. Code, > authority is hereby given for the printing, > publishing or importation, or the > making or importation of the necessary > plates or items for such printing > or publishing, of color illustrations of > U.S. currency provided that: > (1) The illustration be of a size less > than three-fourths or more than one > and one-half, in linear dimension, of > each part of any matter so illustrated; > (2) The illustration be one-sided; and > (3) All negatives, plates, positives, > digitized storage medium, graphic files, > magnetic medium, optical storage devices, > and any other thing used in the > making of the illustration that contain > an image of the illustration or any part > thereof shall be destroyed and/or deleted > or erased after their final use in > accordance with this section. [http://frwebgate1.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/PDFgate.cgi?WAISdocID=48723232678+3+1+0&WAISaction=retrieve](http://frwebgate1.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/PDFgate.cgi?WAISdocID=48723232678+3+1+0&WAISaction=retrieve) In other words: > [@](#): > > Previously, it was against the law to reproduce any U.S. currency unless it was for numismatic purposes, said Sam Tong, special agent for the U.S. Secret Service. > > “Now, you can photocopy money, but it has to be one-and-a-half times larger than a genuine bill or three-quarters the size or smaller,” he said. [http://starbulletin.com/98/09/11/news/kokualine.html](http://starbulletin.com/98/09/11/news/kokualine.html) ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-copying-u-s-currency/463636/6 "2008-09-15T15:19:59Z")
The Counterfeit Detection Act of 1992, Public Law 102-550, Section 411 - Color Illustrations of US Currency, confuses me. Is it addressing the use of ILLUSTRATIONS, like one published in a book or magazine? Or does the one-sided, 3/4 smaller or 1/2 larger restriction apply to an individual copy of a bill? If it means any copy of a bill, then it would appear that possession of a two-sided, same-size photocopy of a bill would be a violation of the law, whether there was an actual attempt to defraud or not. USC 18 Section 471 specifies that an intent to defraud is necessary for a violation to be present. But The Counterfeit Detection Act of 1992, Public Law 102-550, in Section 411 of Title 31 of the Code of Federal Regulations says it permits color illustrations of U.S. currency provided: The illustration is of a size less than three-fourths or more than one and one-half, in linear dimension, of each part of the item illustrated. The illustration is one-sided. Does the US Code 18 Section 471 supersede Public Law 102-550, in Section 411 of Title 31 or vice versa? ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-copying-u-s-currency/463636/7 "2008-09-15T16:33:09Z")
When it gets to laws like that which seem to conflict or overlap, that’s what Courts decide. So if Randwill was carrying around a full-sized, 2-sided color copy of a bill, he’d better be prepared to show he had a valid reason other than defrauding someone. A trainer of bank cashiers, a journalist, etc. can easily such a reason for having a counterfeit bill in their possession. An ordinary person might have a harder time – the common-sense assumption of a Judge might be that Randwill had it in his pocket because he was going to try to pass this counterfeit. And even if he wins in the end, he’ll spend time in Court & spend money on lawyers. Most commercial copiers now have logic that prevents them from copying currency. Also, the newer bills have a metallic thread in them that shows up as a solid dark line down the height of the bill – real obvious. Most computer scanners & color printers don’t have such logic, so they can be used. But the metallic thread still shows up. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-copying-u-s-currency/463636/8 "2008-09-15T17:03:04Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > lso, the newer bills have a metallic thread in them that shows up as a solid dark line down the height of the bill – real obvious. Most computer scanners & color printers don’t have such logic, so they can be used. But the metallic thread still shows up. Show me, please. I’ll the new US bills I’ve ever seen have a polyester thread inside the two sides of the bill. This thread will fluoresce in different colors depending on denomination, but I seriously doubt it would show up on a scanner, and it’s definitely not metal. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-copying-u-s-currency/463636/9 "2008-09-15T20:34:44Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > Show me, please. > > I’ll the new US bills I’ve ever seen have a polyester thread inside the two sides of the bill. This thread will fluoresce in different colors depending on denomination, but I seriously doubt it would show up on a scanner, and it’s definitely not metal. Just tried it out on my new scanner, and you’re right – the thread does not show up on a scanned-printed copy. But I’ve seen it show up clearly on a professional copier machine. I don’t know just what the thread is made of, just that it shows up. I thought it was metallic. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-copying-u-s-currency/463636/10 "2008-09-15T20:41:16Z")
An interesting angle on this topic is [J.S.G. Boggs.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._S._G._Boggs) Some say he is a counterfeiter; others, an artist.