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Originally posted by Aloysius the Gaul
The minting of Liberty dollars also appears to be in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 486:
Whoever, except as authorized by law, makes or utters or passes, or attempts to utter or pass, any coins of gold or silver or other metal, or alloys of metals, intended for use as current money, whether in the resemblance of coins of the United States or of foreign countries, or of original design, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.
So making coins is not illegal, but making coins that are .....intended for use as CURRENT MONEY, whether in the resemblance of coins of the United States or of foreign countries, OR OF ORIGINAL DESIGN...... is illegal.
Originally posted by Frontkjemper
Umm... Because they're not in the U.S.? What this case goes on about isn't a copyright issue but rather one of counterfeit. Since the coins resemble the U.S. coins, they can be mistakenly used as legal tender.
Originally posted by civilchallenger
If that really is the law used to convict Liberty Dollar then they obviously have a slam dunk appeal & subsequent vindication. The $20 Liberty piece does not resemble any specific US coin, even though it does have a similar style. The criminal syndicate known as the Federal Reserve very well may have some text on US law books that says competing with their monopoly scheme is illegal, but the citation you use is not it.
Originally posted by Aloysius the Gaul
The section makes it illegal to use the coin as currency - "current money" - regardless of whether it resembles "official" US currency or not.
My point was that it appears that the conviction is for making the coinage to be used as currency - presumably as payment for goods and services.
Not for it's bullion content being traded on markets as such.
Originally posted by quackers
Originally posted by PETROLCOIN
What is the problem? Also, this man did nothing illegal. Where in the Constitution does it say that citizens cannot coin their own money?
A jury of his peers says otherwise. If he had not broken the law, he would not have been convited right? As for the constitution, freedom of the press is there, freedom of speech is there, the right to bare arms is there, but last time I checked the right to mint your own currency wasn't.
From the same article
Article I, section 8, clause 5 of the United States Constitution delegates to Congress the power to coin money and to regulate the value thereof. This power was delegated to Congress in order to establish and preserve a uniform standard of value and to insure a singular monetary system for all purchases and debts in the United States, public and private. Along with the power to coin money, Congress has the concurrent power to restrain the circulation of money which is not issued under its own authority in order to protect and preserve the constitutional currency for the benefit of all citizens of the nation. It is a violation of federal law for individuals, such as von NotHaus, or organizations, such as NORFED, to create private coin or currency systems to compete with the official coinage and currency of the United States.edit on 19-3-2011 by quackers because: (no reason given)