My New Henning Nickel!

SHAFTA -- not all of them have the hole in the "R" it seems he had a couple of different reverses.

Part of the mystique with Henning nickels is that collectors where the main reason he was caught. He made nickels b/c he figured no one looked at nickels. Well, we all look at nickels, and when collectors started finding this 1944 coin with the wrong planchet and no mint mark... The secret service had trouble tracking down the counterfeits. Banks weren't finding them, but once they talked to collectors, they got dozens of examples which made tracking him easier.

Yes, if he hadn't made the mistake of counterfeiting 1944's he might not have been caught.

Not OK to own.

Not OK to pass or sell.

Big felony time in federal graybar hilton.

Title to a counterfeit cannot pass, so even if they were stupid enough to buy it, they could return it for a refund at any time.

Neither of those has anymore right to seize it than you do to own it. Banker or law enforcement can seize it, tho.

"Something" = they can call the law on you for trying to pass counterfeits, and since you already are in print as knowing they're fake, you have a crappy defense.

OTOH:

The gubmint has bigger fry to fish than someone passing a single fake coin.

Places like TPG and many private collectors have "black cabinets" of fake coins for education, research and amusement. While not legal, the gubmint tends to look the other way. I seem to recall the feds took the ANACS black cabinet a few decades ago, don't remember if they gave it back, but no one was charged with counterfooting.

Local law enforcement has extremely little knowledge about counterfeiting, I suspect the average ccf poster is far more knowledgeable than even local detectives.

IN A NUTSHELL:

The law is black and white, enforcement is a very light shade of gray. Barney doesn't want to lock up an outstanding citizen only to get slapped with a false arrest suit because of police ignorance.

biggfredd,
I'm not going to misrepresent it, but I am going to take it to my local dealer, and see if he'll buy it as a piece of gold. It's a 1913 $10 Indian Head Eagle that someone tried to make more valuable by brazing on a 'S' MM, so it does have some gold content.

OK, that's an altered coin, not a counterfeit. Still not legal to sell as real, but I would think OK to sell as scrap gold.

In order to be counterfoot, notfeds would have to be a copy of a coin. I didn't read the details, but I suspect the problem was that he claimed they were money, could be spent, or some other fraud.

Even if someone had 100 ounces of them, how much time and money do you think the gubmint is going to pursue what is essentially petty theft?

The Feds' problem with NORFEDs is that they (allegedly) could be confused for currency. They say "dollar" have elements similar to US currency, say "Trust in God", "Liberty", and "USA".

There's a thread on another coin site by a fellow who called the US Attorney General's local office and was told, in part: "It's legal to possess the Liberty Dollar rounds, with caveat. If you own the coins as collectibles, then you're fine. The FBI was very clear on that. However, if you sell the rounds as collectibles, you are on very thin ice. Why? Well, with the caveat that he wasn't providing legal advice, the agent indicated that you don't know final intent. So, if a buyer decided to use the round as currency, you would be liable for distribution with the intent to defraud (US Title Code 18, Sec 491)."