Maybe frowned upon by the mint...

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jbthbt

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Claude, TX.
Slight modifications required to the components, but the panache lends itself nicely to oversized tops like this with a quarter, or a dime is the exact same size as the original hardware. Mercury dimes are a favorite of mine.

I realize the large top kind of throws off the overall balance of the pen, but it's a worthwhile trade-off for Texans.... we'll buy practically anything that says TX on it.
 

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I don't know if it would be frowned upon. Maybe it would. Everybody has something to frown about these days..

You didn't destroy it or anything.

That's a neat idea anyhow.. Nicely Done.
 
Yep, that's not a bad idea at all. It's a little over the top size wise for me, but certainly a cool concept. And no...it is not any sort of violation. You can do anything you want with coins. Paper money is all property of the government, and coins are property of the person holding the coin. You can cut them up all day long if you wanted to. I know several people that scroll coins and make some decent spending money in doing so.
 
workinforwood said:
Yep, that's not a bad idea at all. It's a little over the top size wise for me, but certainly a cool concept. And no...it is not any sort of violation. You can do anything you want with coins. Paper money is all property of the government, and coins are property of the person holding the coin. You can cut them up all day long if you wanted to. I know several people that scroll coins and make some decent spending money in doing so.
Click to expand...

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode18/usc_sec_18_00000331----000-.html

Translate it however you will, I sure as heck ain't going to try with this one. :eek: And I'm even used to lawyer speak.
 
Hopefully since it is simply glued in place and easily removable with some de-bonder, it doesn't actually meet any of those criteria. Since the Mercury dimes are (mostly) out of circulation, they shouldn't be a problem, right?
 
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The key words in the statute that Russianwolf linked is "Fraudulently". Is using the coin in a pen considered fraudulent? I don't think so. Search Google...you will find MANY articles that say it is not illegal to even destroy a coin as long as you are not trying to "fraudulently" use it. Some of the replies I read were even posted by attorneys. If it was illegal to destroy a coin, then most of the larger NATIONAL parks would be violating the law with their souvenir coin presses that turn a penny into an embossed souvenir.
 
Don't worry about it JT. I've read debates about this many times and it is not a problem. People publish articles about all kinds of things they do to coins, I've seen people cut them up and they've been published on magazine covers, so whether or not it is firmly legal or not, you have nothing to worry about with a quarter glued on top of a pen. I bet if you met the main guy in charge of making money, he wouldn't care one way or the other, and sure as heck won't be calling the cops on you about it. What an epic legal battle that would be....3 million dollars in legal fees and 20 yrs to the supreme court over a quarter that isn't worth as much as a pre-1980 or so penny, and that's only because those pennies were real copper.
 
Jeff's right. Coins are not even considered "legal currency" in legal terms. If you wanted to bond someone out of jail with a bag of coins, they do not have to take it. Paper money has limitations coins do not. They are not considered "USC" United States Currency.
 
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Even the US Mint has marketed similar things done with coins. They have in the past offered keychains, golf divot markers, paperweights, etc. all made with coins currently in circulation. The number of people openly selling scrolled, plated, painted, or encased coins, or ones attached to various types of jewelery is staggering, so you can practically guarantee someone is higher on their radar than the most prolific pen turners around here....
 
This gives me an idea, I sometimes make bottle stoppers with coins from foreign countries in them for people as gifts, I have some smaller in diameter coins that would not work well in a bottle stopper, but might work fine on a pen, looks like I need to get some Panache kits and give it a try.
 
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