Is it against the law 2 write on money ?

Answer 1

Oddly, people are saying "yes," and then quoting a statute which says "no." It is NOT illegal to write on money. It is illegal to "deface" money, which means to make it unfit to be reissued. Plenty of bills are reissued with writing on them--the number you get from banks with writing on them shows you that. Moreover, if it were illegal to write on money, everybody at wheresgeorge.com would be in jail.

Answer 2

No, it is most certainly NOT against the law. If you read the statement that everyone seems to be quoting, it states "With the intent to render such item(s) UNFIT TO BE REISSUED" is illegal. There are people who affix portraits, such as Santa Claus or Bill Clinton, over George Washington on the one dollar bill and sell them as novelties. This also is perfectly legal, as it is done at coin shows, through the mail, and over the Internet.

This EXACT statute is referenced by www.wheresgeorge.com as stating why it IS LEGAL to do this.

If it were illegal, then consider this. Any bank that uses a stamp on a pack of bills, which they do frequently, would be breaking the law. Anyone who uses one of those special pens to determine if a higher denomination bill is counterfeit or not would be breaking the law. Such things are part of the normal treatment of currency, and in fact the higher denomination bills were designed so they COULD be tested with a special pen. Would the government design a bill so people could break the law while testing it?

Mutilation, cutting, disfiguring, perforation, and uniting or cementing together of bills is called out as defacement. Writing on, or stamping on, a bill is expressly NOT listed.

I am asked this question frequently by people who do not understand the law. I carry this statement in my wallet, laminated, so people who are ignorant of the exact definition of defacement may read it and be enlightened.

Answer 3

Depends. Writing on a bill is not of itself illegal. Defacing it is. The law discribes defacing 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."

There are millions of people who participate in bill tracking sites and write on bills to do so. As long as they are not rendering the bill useless, they are acting within the law.

Answer 4

United States Code
TITLE 18 - CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
PART I - CRIMES
CHAPTER 17 - COINS AND CURRENCY
§ 333. Mutilation of national bank obligations

“Whoever mutilates, cuts, defaces, disfigures, or perforates, or
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, or Federal Reserve bank, or the Federal Reserve System,
with intent to render such bank bill, draft, note, or other evidence
of debt unfit to be reissued, shall be fined under this title or
imprisoned not more than six months, or both.”

Answer 5

This was asked and answered before on Answers. Here's the answer.

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.

Answer 6

Yes. Someone asked the same question, and this is what the best answer came out aS:


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

Defacement of Currency

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.

Answer 7

it is a federal offense to deface the United Statesian currency.

--------

Question: Is it illegal to deface money?

Answer:

United States currency and coinage are governed by federal law through the U.S. Treasury Department. Generally, it is illegal to fraudulently deface, mutilate, impair, diminish, falsify, scales or lightens any coins minted or "coined" in the United States or any foreign coins which are by law made current or are in use or circulation as money within the U.S. (18 U.S.C. 331)

It is also a crime to fraudulently possess, pass, publish, sell or attempt to possess, pass, publish, sell or bring into the U.S. any such coin with knowledge that the coin has been altered, mutilated, defaced, etc. (18 U.S.C. 331)

Defacing currency with the intent to alter the bill to gain a benefit is illegal. If someone alters a written instrument (such as a check) without permission and with the intent to gain a benefit, then it is called forgery, which is a crime. If one tried to alter a cash bill (like changing a $5 bill to a $20 bill) for the purpose of presenting the altered bill to gain a benefit, then that could be considered a forgery. Forgery of United States Currency in this manner is called counterfeiting and carries with it very stiff penalties.

Answer 8

yes but people still do it. It is against the law to do many things that people break everyday. For some examples: throwing money away, wearing seat belts, getting in fights, ect. There are lots of things people do that are against the law but whose going to stop them. Just like writing on money, Who would find out? nobody, but that doesnt give the rite for anyone to do it.

Answer 9

I do it all the time for peoples birthday. I don't think it's against the law.

Answer 10

It is not, as long as you don't' use it.

However, nobody actually cares. The only way you could get arrested for it would be to write Secret Service people S*** in front of one (The USSS are actually part of the treasury).