# Why is defacing currency illegal? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 27, 2012, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-defacing-currency-illegal/614109 "2012-02-27T02:29:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-defacing-currency-illegal/614109/21 "2012-02-29T18:38:56Z")
I’ve gotten bills that had been written on with an ink pen, Even a few crudely drawn mustaches on the Presidents picture. I kept the one with horns on Washington for awhile because it made me laugh. I’ve wondered what the threshold is before they can’t be used? The average Dollar bill wears out after 18 months anyway. [http://www.trackdollarbills.com/blog/tag/dollar-bill/](http://www.trackdollarbills.com/blog/tag/dollar-bill/) ---
**Author:** ![RedSwinglineOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a9adbd/32.png) [@RedSwinglineOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedSwinglineOne)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-defacing-currency-illegal/614109/22 "2012-02-29T21:48:10Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > … They can take those newly minted dollars and go buy stuff with them, and not have to worry about causing runaway inflation because some political movement has helpfully balanced out the money supply… Unless I am mistaken, the government does not “spend” the money it prints. ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2012, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-defacing-currency-illegal/614109/23 "2012-03-01T15:46:58Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > This is the main point. Suppose some bozo went to the bank everyday, got stacks of $1 bills and spent all day “wearing them out”. Running them thru the washer, crumpling them, etc. Takes them back to the back and gets new bills. Lather, rinse, repeat. > > The bank returns the worn out bills to the Fed, the Fed has to spend money printing replacements, etc. But in the OP, the money isn’t randomly returned and arbitrarily deemed in need of replacement, but _removed_ from circulation altogether. If I write an IOU and it gets all tattered, I have to spend time writing a new one. If it never comes back… fantastic! > [@phxjcc](#): > > Answer: > This is a somewhat anachronistic law from the early days [actually, not that long ago] of the US when banks were issuing their own notes, and these notes were then exchanged between individuals for trade purposes. That explanation actually makes some sense. As “BANK” in your example, I’d be annoyed if my demand notes got messed with. OTOH, I’d be elated if they never ever came back again. If I were such a bank, I’d soak my bills in copper sulphate or something, and spread the rumour that they burn green. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2012, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-defacing-currency-illegal/614109/24 "2012-03-02T01:38:19Z")
> [@VOW](#): > > When JFK ran for President, there was quite a group who felt threatened by his Catholicism. They took all the quarters they could get their hands on, and used red nail polish to paint a red cap on George Washington, to represent the control they felt the Pope would have over the United States Government. > > I remember seeing all those quarters when I was a kid, but it wasn’t until decades later I found out what the intention was. > ~VOW Urban legend at best. If you can give a cite for this, I’d be surprised. What you saw were “jukebox” quarters. The owner of the bar/restaurant painted some red nail polish on some quarters and used them for “seed” money for the jukebox when things were slow. He could pick them out when the box was enptied. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2012, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-defacing-currency-illegal/614109/25 "2012-03-02T04:33:51Z")
Well, at the time I saw these red quarters, jukeboxes played for a nickel. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2012, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-defacing-currency-illegal/614109/26 "2012-03-02T05:20:35Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > They must not care too much about those penny mashing machines set up at every tourist attraction across the country. …or restaurants where people write their name, name of favorite sports team etc. on dollar bills and staple them on the wall. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2012, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-defacing-currency-illegal/614109/27 "2012-03-02T05:31:57Z")
> [@VOW](#): > > Well, at the time I saw these red quarters, jukeboxes played for a nickel. > ~VOW Or five plays for a quarter. Just when was it you saw those quarters? I’m in the coin business and I see these all the time. Always on silverquarters from before 1965. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2012, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-defacing-currency-illegal/614109/28 "2012-03-02T06:47:16Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > Urban legend at best. > > If you can give a cite for this, I’d be surprised. > > What you saw were “jukebox” quarters. > > The owner of the bar/restaurant painted some red nail polish on some quarters and used them for “seed” money for the jukebox when things were slow. He could pick them out when the box was enptied. Arcades used to do this, too. I was a regular at several arcades, and I’d sometimes get “bonus” quarters, that is, I’d give the cashier $5 and get 25 quarters, instead of 20. The extra five quarters were painted red, and the paint WAS always red. It was much more common to get bonus tokens when an arcade used tokens rather than quarters. Usually the deal was that if you bought over a certain amount of tokens at once, you’d get more tokens than if you bought them a dollar at a time. The more you bought, the better the deal. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2012, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-defacing-currency-illegal/614109/29 "2012-03-02T07:26:28Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > Urban legend at best. > > If you can give a cite for this, I’d be surprised. > > What you saw were “jukebox” quarters. > > The owner of the bar/restaurant painted some red nail polish on some quarters and used them for “seed” money for the jukebox when things were slow. He could pick them out when the box was enptied. What would be the point of this? If he needs to put an equivalent amount of money back in the till at the end of the day, wouldn’t it be easier to just write down how much he put in? (Making up the difference with any old quarters he happened to grab, rather than having to fish through the box for the red ones.) ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2012, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-defacing-currency-illegal/614109/30 "2012-03-02T08:33:28Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > Or five plays for a quarter. > > Just when was it you saw those quarters? > > I’m in the coin business and I see these all the time. Always on silverquarters from before 1965. Early Sixties, before 1963. So when I read about the so-called Urban Legend that these quarters were to protest Kennedy being Catholic and about to run a Presidential campaign, it made sense. Kennedy’s Catholocism worried the conspiracy-seeking people more than his war injury inspired patriotism in others. (There’s ALWAYS a conspiracy, don’t you know?) ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![RedSwinglineOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a9adbd/32.png) [@RedSwinglineOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedSwinglineOne)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2012, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-defacing-currency-illegal/614109/31 "2012-03-02T17:03:32Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > What would be the point of this? If he needs to put an equivalent amount of money back in the till at the end of the day, wouldn’t it be easier to just write down how much he put in? (Making up the difference with any old quarters he happened to grab, rather than having to fish through the box for the red ones.) The quarters were given to the employees to use in the jukebox when it was not playing. Painting them red made sure they ended up in the jukebox and not just pocketed by the workers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-defacing-currency-illegal/614109.md?page=1)