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Title 18, Section 471 of the United States Code states that manufacturing counterfeit United States currency or altering genuine currency to increase its value is a violation punishable by a fine of up to $5,000 or 15 years imprisonment or both. Also in Title 18, Section 333 of the United States Code, defacement, mutilating, cutting, disfiguring, perforating, uniting or cementing together any bank bill, draft, note or other evidence of debt issued by any national banking association, Federal Reserve Bank, or Federal Reserve System, with intent to render such items unfit to be reissued, shall be fined and/or imprisoned for up to six months.

You can just as easily be imprisoned and/or fined just for possession of counterfeit money with fraudulent intent. All of these offenses are covered under Title 18 of the United States Code. Possession of counterfeit money is under Section 472 and is punishable by a fine of up to $15,000 and/or 15 years imprisonment. These sections in Title 18 regarding counterfeiting are clear and strict however they only cover paper money. The defacement section covers all money. Defacement of currency in such a way that it’s made unfit for circulation is under the jurisdiction of the United States Secret Service.

Regarding the counterfeiting of change, also covered in Title 18, is outlined in Section 331of the United States Code. It seems that there isn’t a big problem of counterfeiting pennies because pennies are not mentioned whatsoever in this section. However, anyone manufacturing a counterfeit U.S. count in any denomination above 5 cents (which also sounds like nickels aren’t included, just amounts above them) is subject to the same penalties as all other counterfeiters, that is a fine of up to $5,000 and/or 15 years imprisonment. Someone who is only altering, not manufacturing, a U.S. coin to increase its value, also according to Section 331, is a crime punishable by a fine of up to $2,000 and or imprisonment of up to 5 years.

Section 510 covers the forging, altering or trafficking in United States government checks, bonds or other obligations. If you were to participate in doing these things, you could face a fine of up to $10,000 and or 10 years in prison. Section 474 covers and prohibits the printing reproductions, photographs of paper currency, checks, bonds, postage stamps, revenue stamps and securities of the United States. Violations are punishable by a fine of up to $5, 000 and/or 15 years in jail.

We all know, especially in these hard times that sometimes money is scarce. People are losing their jobs and paying more for their homes, food and basic necessities. The more people counterfeit, the lower the value of our dollar drops. If this is something you were to come across, think of the consequences outlined here and think if using counterfeit money is worth the $2,000 to $10,000 fine and years of jail time is worth it. Chances are that you would rather stay in the position you are in than every try to counterfeit money!

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It is illegal to purposely deface, mutilate, impair, diminish, falsify, scales or lightens any coins minted or “coined” in the United States of America. However, the U.S. government will replace worn out or damaged money if three-fifths of it is still identifiable. Two-fifths will earn the bearer half the face value; less than that gets nothing. Every year, the U.S. Treasury handles over 30,000 claims of destroyed or badly damaged currency. But what happens to money that becomes unrecognizable or “mutilated” through unintentional means?

There are numerous ways that currency can become “mutilated”. The most common causes are fire, water, chemicals, explosives, animal, insect, or rodent damage, and deterioration from burying paper currency. If more than half of the money is identifiable and evidence relating to what happened to the remainder of the money indicates that it was completely destroyed, it is possible for money to be replaced however, special steps must be taken to ensure the authenticity of the currency and the condition of the remaining portions of the paper bills. Special experts are employed by the Treasury Department to examine mutilated currency. These individuals carefully investigate all mutilated money received and are responsible for okaying the writing of a Treasury check for the value of the currency as they determine to be redeemable.

It is important to note that paper money can become badly soiled, defaced, disintegrated, worn, and torn through the ordinary exchange of hands. If more than half of the original note is left and special examination of the note is not required, the money is not considered mutilated. These funds can be taken directly to a bank and exchanged for a replacement. The money is then sent to the Federal Reserve Bank to be exchanged for new bills. The serial numbers of the worn-out money are recorded and then the bills are destroyed. Damaged coins are returned to the Treasury for re-minting, meaning they melt them down to make new coins.  Mutilated currency however needs to be mailed or delivered to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington, D.C., with a letter indicating the estimated value of the currency and an explanation of how the currency became mutilated. Special care should be taken to ensure that the bills are left in the same condition they were in when found.

While it is comforting to know that there are measures in place to protect currency from losing it’s value through unintentional mutilation or defacement, one should take every precaution possible to protect our currency. After all, as taxpayers, we do pay for the minting and printing of all currency and coinage in the United States. Try to keep money safe by avoiding letting your wallet run through the washing machine, or leaving money lying around where it can be damaged. Also, please don’t write on bills ad this may cause them not to work in vending machines or not to be accepted meaning they will need to be replaced sooner than ordinary.

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Many people wonder if it is legal to write on dollar bills or stamp them. There aren’t any laws that say writing or stamping on dollar bills is illegal. It is true, however that defacing United States Currency is a punishable offense. The Secret Service is actually responsible for any matters concerning the defacement of dollar bills. The United States Department of Treasury’s Bureau of Printing and Engraving website describes the regulation as follows:

“Defacement of currency is a violation of Title 18, Section 333 of the United States Code. Under this provision, currency defacement is generally defined as follows: Whoever mutilates, cuts, disfigures, perforates, unites or cements together, or does any other thing to any bank bill, draft, note, or other evidence of debt issued by any national banking association, Federal Reserve Bank, or Federal Reserve System, with intent to render such item(s) unfit to be reissued, shall be fined not more than $100 or imprisoned not more than six months, or both.”

“Defacement of currency in such a way that it is made unfit for circulation comes under the jurisdiction of the United States Secret Service. Their mailing address is:

United States Secret Service
950 H Street, NW
Washington, DC 20223.

The United States Secret Service web address is http://www.secretservice.gov/.”

So, basically, if you can still read and spend the money, no harm is done.
But DO NOT stamp or write trackdollarbills.com on the dollar bills since we do not approve such a way to follow your US currency.

Also, don’t mutilate the bill or “krazy-glue” it to another bill. Keep the law in mind, and if you have the urge to disfigure or perforate your money, think about whether or not it is worth spending six months in jail.

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