Coin Engraver Charged With Altering Coins In Canada

@nic, an interesting article and thanks for posting it. I've improved your title a bit to be more descriptive.

He says that he knew it was illegal but did it anyway.

Although I believe that the law is clear, I don't see the point of if there is no fraud or counterfeiting. Still, the law is the law, and it will be interesting to see the outcome of this, since it seems a rather trivial matter.

Not to get political.
But with all of the other real problems in society
talk about petty and going after low hanging fruit!

100%agree with @pacificoin and not wanting to get political...

If you look at his website, he is voicing a political message; I wonder if this is what triggered a zealous prosecutor... I get the sense that had he been lasering bunnies and kittens on the coins then he would likely not have triggered an official reaction and @Pacificoin's low hanging fruit comment would apply. There is, after all, a long history of altering/defacing Canadian coins... JOP Stamped Silver Dollars often command a premium in today's secondary market. https://www.coinworld.com/news/worl...ins%20today.

It is true, however, that most of the pressed penny machines and sites that refer to them advise using US cents. Not all note that use of Canadian coins is illegal however most refer to the fact that Canadian cents are no longer generally available. I am not aware of any coin press machines in Canada that alter higher denomination coins whereas I have seen these in the US.

I am surprised that he has 2 charges against him one for defacing the coin and the other for offering the defaced coin for sale. If the latter is a real charge, then wouldn't all JOP dollars be illegal to sell.

I agree that if his defense is a reliance on "art" as a means of speech and a collection of "whatabout" comments, he may not be successful as this is an illegal act in Canada however if he relies on historical precedent such as the "JOP" dollars, he may have a better outcome.

Is this true?

Sounds like your typical TikTok attention "seeker." He dared them to arrest him so they did. Duh. Hey everybody, look at me!

The law in the US is a bit opaque. It's illegal to deface, etc currency, but apparently only "with intent to render such bank bill, draft, note, or other evidence of debt unfit to be reissued." But it seems like you can do what you want to a coin, as long as it's not for advertising - "or otherwise impresses upon or attaches to any such instrument, obligation, or security, or any coin of the United States, any business or professional card, notice, or advertisement, or any notice or advertisement whatever, shall be fined under this title." So it seems like those coin elongating machines might technically be illegal here too, since even the ones in national park gift shops are "advertising" the park.

"I thought it was a joke, to be honest"
That says it all folks. Like it or not, it is the coin of the realm. As a Canadian I am sick of everyone and their dog having their own way with our institutions, ie: amending the National Anthem to suit your individual political persuasions. Good on the OPP for dealing with the 'complaint' appropriately. I, for one, support prosecuting profiteers who manipulate symbols of sovereignty for personal gain.

The Royal Canadian Mint is a Crown Corporation. They are not interested in recovering their property, they are interested in acquiring base metals at below market value and reusing them for their electroplating plants for new coinage. It is way more profitable doing that, than acquiring new raw materials.