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Posted: **Sun Mar 24, 2013 12:31 am**

Can you mutilate Canadian pennies while in Canada(now)? Now that cents are no longer being made....

I know that the Canadian coins are considered sovereign property, and is a crime to mutilate them (in Canada).

When it comes to elongated cents, it is very rare to find any elongated cent designs from an engraver that lives in Canada to be rolled onto a Canadian cent, if not impossible to find. I do have a few in my personal collection though. This is something that I have heard in the past is illegal for anyone in Canada to mutilate in any way any coins, whether they intend to keep them as a collectible or not, it wouldnt matter.

Some Canadian engravers have even engraved the opposite reverse die to imitate a Canadian cent, and then roll a US cent. So, it will come out having the intended design on one side, and a imitation of the Canadian cent on the other.

Anyhow I was just wondering, if now the floodgates have been opened and the penny pressers are free to roll on a Canadian cent.

Posted: **Sun Mar 24, 2013 3:21 am**

It is still legal tender and you would be defacing an image of the monarch. So it is most likely still illegal.

Posted: **Sun Mar 24, 2013 11:06 am**

But I think it is fine for you to do here in the United States. Just as it is illegal for US cents and nickels to be destroyed or damaged here in the US but if you find them outside the US then there is nothing the US government can do about it.

Posted: **Sun Mar 24, 2013 11:22 am**

thedrifter wrote:But I think it is fine for you to do here in the United States. Just as it is illegal for US cents and nickels to be destroyed or damaged here in the US but if you find them outside the US then there is nothing the US government can do about it.

Actually you can mutilate and destroy US cents all you want to here in the US, as long as you dont try and spend them, which would be fraud. You also cannot "treat" them in a way as to be preparing them to be melting them. Otherwise, you can do anything you want to US tender, as long as after you alter or deface it you dont try and spend it as though it was in its original condition before you altered it.

Posted: **Sun Mar 24, 2013 11:26 am**

I'm guessing if you're in Canada, it's not legal for you to do so; though I am not entirely sure about that.

Posted: **Sun Mar 24, 2013 2:24 pm**

frugi wrote:Can you mutilate Canadian pennies while in Canada(now)? Now that cents are no longer being made....

/quote]
I would say in Canada it still unlawful to do so. As the cent is still legal tender. You can if you have a licence.

From --http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-52/page-2.html#docCont

Melting Coins

Marginal note:Melting down coins

11. (1) No person shall, except in accordance with a licence granted by the Minister, melt down, break up or use otherwise than as currency any coin that is current and legal tender in Canada.
Marginal note:Offence and punishment

(2) Every person who contravenes subsection (1) or any condition attached to a licence referred to in that subsection is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding two hundred and fifty dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding twelve months or to both, and, in addition to any fine or imprisonment imposed, the court may order that the articles by means of or in relation to which the offence was committed be forfeited to Her Majesty.
R.S., c. C-39, s. 10.

And from--http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elongated_coin

Legality

Collection of elongated pennies
The process of creating elongated coins is legal in the United States, almost all parts of Japan, South Africa and parts of Europe. In the United States, U.S. Code Title 18, Chapter 17, Section 331 prohibits "the mutilation, diminution and falsification of United States coinage." The foregoing statute, however, does not prohibit the mutilation of coins, if the mutilated coins are not used fraudulently, i.e., with the intention of creating counterfeit coinage or profiting from the base metal (the pre-1982 copper U.S. cent which, as of 2010, is worth more than one cent in the United States). Because elongated coins are made mainly as souvenirs, mutilation for this purpose is legal, when location of the coin presser has the permit from the mint to do so.
In the UK, the Coinage Offenses Act 1936 prohibited the defacement of any current coins. This was repealed in its entirety by the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981, thus removing the prohibition on coin defacement.
In countries where such mutilation is illegal, such as Canada, blank planchets, slugs, or U.S. cents are occasionally used, though this law is often ignored both by the users of the machine and law enforcement. This method is also often used in countries such as Australia, which never had or no longer have a one cent (or equivalent) coin.

Posted: **Sun Mar 24, 2013 2:39 pm**

so i guess it is still illegal in Canada according to wikipedia..........
at least until the cent becomes no longer current and legal tender.

Just wondering because of the engravers I know in Canada they were just wondering. thanks.

Posted: **Sun Mar 24, 2013 2:52 pm**

henrysmedford wrote: Because elongated coins are made mainly as souvenirs, mutilation for this purpose is legal, when location of the coin presser has the permit from the mint to do so.

I do take issue with this part from wikipedia though, (and this is one reason most people dont like wikipedia). There is absolutely no mention of this in any of the US laws or from the US mint, or on any of the penny press sites that discuss legalities. I can only assume it is nonsense, unless some type of link can be provided to show the basis for such a permit issued by the mint.

In any case, thank you for your reply.

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Can you mutilate Canadian pennies (now)?

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