In this article, someone mentions that changing the metal content of US currency coins would be an opportunity for counterfeiters. One line of reasoning used in the article is “people would rather counterfeit casino chips than coins,” implying that changing the nickel content of coins would make them more like casino chips. The person using this line of reasoning is convicted forger Frank Abagnale, who is credited as a government adviser on preventing fraud and forgery. It sounds reasonable enough, except…
I work in the casino industry, and I have never heard of a casino chip counterfeit. I can’t find any reference to casino chips ever having been counterfeited on any significant scale, and a Straight Dope article written by Ianzin seems to back me up.
I find it hard to believe that it could possibly be worth counterfeiting US coins: unless you’re making them in very large quantities, they’re going to cost more to make than their face value.
Of course, how the feds could save a bit of money is by stopping making the 1-cent coin.
I still think his opinion about counterfeiting casino chips is off base, though. Yeah, people would rather counterfeit casino chips, because it might be worth their while to do so. That doesn’t imply that casino chips actually get counterfeited in the real world, or that reducing the precious metal content of our coins would lead to significant counterfeiting.
I’m not seeing what you’re seeing in Abagnale’s quoted comment:
You seem to think that he’s saying that people are or have been counterfeiting casino chips. I don’t see that at all. He’s simply saying that if someone were looking to counterfeit coin-like objects, why wouldn’t they counterfeit something with a heftier return on their investment?
Counterfeiting US coins is unlikely to be worth anyone’s time. Think of the laundering support network you’d need in order to move any sizable quantity of coins.
Counterfeiting casino chips isn’t likely to end well. Even if you make such a good copy that they don’t notice until you’re long gone, there’s only one place you can spend them, and it has a central accounting authority and is covered with cameras.
Abagnale is an older gent; I wonder if he subconsciously bases this statement on a time when prices were lower. I have heard of pound coin counterfeiting in the UK, and the higher value makes it seem almost potentially worthwhile. The other important aspect of low denominations in this regard is that virtually nobody is going to stop and notice one closely. Post WWII inflation has been a factor in most of the Western world, but the U.S. is a special case because we alone have not revised the coinage to meet this condition. Since most countries left the gold standard, the whole raison d’etre of a government-issued coin was to be a small object made of cheap, nearly worthless metal but commanding a relatively high value in the marketplace because the power to issue it is restricted. In the U.S. now, however, pennies and nickels may cost more to make than they are worth, depending on nickel, copper, and even zinc prices. This is a numismatic first! our most minor, token coins, are turning into standard commodity money, and the whole system stands on its head. Each Federal Reserve Note in circulation, in effect, promises to pay the bearer full value in zinc or nickel.
So, what was that about counterfeiting nickels again?
Of course in the case of pennies and nickels the more it costs you. The metal content is worth more than the face value. (Or it may be less now if the economic downturn has led to a drop in the metal prices).
There was a gent who counterfeited the lowly Jefferson nickel in or about 1954. He made about 200,000+ of them. We see one from time to time. When you can make a fake for your cost of a cent and spend it for a nickel, then you’re making real money, at least in 1954. Most of his fakes were dated before 1954 FWIW.
Yes, but in the US, the largest coin commonly circulated is the 25¢ quarter – slightly under 17 pence British. Hardly worth counterfeiting. You could probably make more money begging.
Apparently, counterfeits represent two or three percent of all pound coins in circulation :eek: I’ve seen a few examples - it used to be that they were cast in pewter or lead, painted gold, but I’ve seen some more recently that were brass or bronze or some other appropriately-coloured alloy.