Numismatist on owning counterfeits

In the column Numismatic Ethics the authors talk about the legalities of
owning, buying, and selling counterfeits of collectable coins. At least
two people here have argued for years that this is illegal and
unethical, one by playing lawyer, amateurishly combining unrelated
statutes. The authors of this Numismatist column judiciously point out
that the legality of selling and owning counterfeits are confusing but
"The coins are legal to own as long as they are offered as contemporary
counterfeits and not sold with the intent to defraud." They also point
to a recently published book on the subject of counterfeit Bust halves,
available to borrow from the ANA library. I pointed out previously the
availablilty from the ANA library of the video by Red Book editor and
former ANA president Ken Bressett titled "Famous Fakes and Fakers" on
the attraction of collecting counterfeits. Lawyer Michael Benveniste
previously pointed out here that at least two circuit courts have ruled
that possession of counterfeit coins without intent to defraud doesn't
violate the U.S. counterfeit statues (United States v. Cardillo, 708
F.2d 29 [1983], and United States v. Ratner, 464 F.2d 169 [1972]). Those
with entrenched views will likely still argue about the illegality and
immorality of anything and everything having to do with counterfeits
even to the extent of equating the collecting and studying of
counterfeits with the support of international terrorism, to name just
one of the mind-boggling statements made here and that will no doubt
continue to be made. The common theme in all this: the interplay of
truth and misinformation, a key and fascinating issue in numismatics.

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Consumer: http://rg.ancients.info/guide
Connoisseur: http://rg.ancients.info/glom
Counterfeit: http://rg.ancients.info/bogos