No copyright claimed, intended or implied:

As a service to those who might actually believe what is
written in the periodically posted "counterfeit detection
primer" regarding the legalities of possessing counterfeit
coins, I offer the following:

US Code Title 49 Subtitle X Chapter 803 Section 80302
specifically defines forged, altered and counterfeit coins
of the United States or any other government of a foreign
country as contraband.

In upholding a lower Court decision regarding the possession
of counterfeits in the case of JSG Boggs v. Robert E. Rubin,
Secretary of the Treasury, et al, the United States Court of
Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit stated the
following regarding contraband:

“Contraband per se comprises objects which are inherently
unlawful to possess, regardless of how they are used.”

The decision of the Court was appealed to the United States
Supreme Court who declined to hear the case.

Additionally, US Code Title 18, Part I - Crimes, Chapter 25
- Counterfeiting and Forgery, Section 492 - Forfeiture of
Counterfeit Parephenalia requires that all counterfeit coins
be surrendered to the government. It further states that if
the government has to ask you to surrender the counterfeits,
and you refuse, you can be fined and/or jailed.

In their decision against Boggs, the Court of Appeals quoted
the text of this statute and upheld the lower Court’s ruling
that this statute did prohibit possession of counterfeits.

Further, in a 1947 decision (Harris v. United States) the US
Supreme Court listed “counterfeit coins” among items which
are illegal to possess and which can be seized without a
search warrant:

"It has long been recognized, of course, that certain
objects, the possession of which is in some way illegal, may
be seized on appropriate occasions without a search warrant.
Such objects include stolen goods, property forfeited to the
Government, property concealed to avoid payment of duties,
counterfeit coins, burglar tools, gambling paraphernalia,
illicit liquor and the like."

The Hobby Protection Act mentioned by the author of the
“counterfeit detection primer” is basically a set of
guidelines under the jurisdiction of the Federal Trade
Commission for the legal manufacture or import of imitation
numismatic and political items.

The Hobby Protection Act specifically states that it does
not replace of supercede existing counterfeiting laws and
contains absolutely no evidence to support the author’s
claim that it is the applicable law pertaining to fakes of
ancient coins.

The author claims the former ANA Curator advises marking the
holder containing the fake coin. This advice runs counter to
the requirements of the organization he worked for at the
time the author interviewed him. The ANA Member Code of
Ethics requires that the marking be done in the metal of the
coin.

Finally, the author fails to mention that this former ANA
Curator and a man the author identified as “the top
counterfeiting guy at Secret Service headquarters” both told
him that possession of counterfeit coins was indeed illegal.
++++++++++
Phil DeMayo - always here for my fellow Stooge
When bidding online always sit on your helmet
Just say NO to counterfeits