To deface something with the Queens image on it.
I remember at school when i was given a right telling off for drilling through a 1p piece.
The teacher said it was illegal and went on to say defacing a postage stamp was too.
Does anyone know if this is true?
I think it may be one of those archaic laws that classes it as treason (crimes against the Queen) and makes it still punishable by death. Well, thats what our technology teacher used to tell us when we sanded 10p coins into squares...
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Isn't it illegal to put a stamp on upside down too?
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"The major difference between a thing that might go wrong and a thing that cannot possibly go wrong is that when a thing that cannot possibly go wrong goes wrong it usually turns out to be impossible to get at or repair." Douglas Adams
Defacing Coins of the Realm
We receive e-mails from people asking whether it is illegal to deface coins. We are never quite sure why they need to know, or what they are intending to do. We are quite sure that it is still be illegal to deface coins, particularly current ones.
If you need to check on the legality, you could try contacting H.M. Treasury, or asking your local reference library, some libraries have a law library collection, otherwise you could ask a solicitor which will obviously cost money. While we are not in a authoritative position to give you a definitive answer we believe that you should be alright. The authorities quite sensibly are unlikely to prosecute anyone who damages one or two coins, but would probably get upset if someone defaced or printed an advertising slogan on several million of them. Similarly if your advert encouraged millions of others to do the same, you might have a problem.
The lack of response from the Royal Mint probably can probably be taken to indicate their lack of concern, and if you did find yourself facing legal action later, it would certainly be a mitigating factor, if not a defence, to be able to show that you had taken the precaution of asking the mint. Taking this logic a little further, you can probably understand the difficulty for the mint in answering your question. Assuming it is illegal to deface a coin, and also assuming that the Royal Mint are not concerned about you defacing a single coin, they can hardly write to tell you they have no objection, as they would not be allowed to give you permission to break the law.
What's more archaic, that fact that it's illegal to deface stamps and money with the queen's head on it, or the fact that we still place the image of a monarch on stamps and coins anyway?
What's more archaic, that fact that it's illegal to deface stamps and money with the queen's head on it, or the fact that we still place the image of a monarch on stamps and coins anyway?
I don't think it is illegal to deface the Queen's image or put stamps on upside down (a petty thing Irish Repbulicans in Northern Ireland were/are fond of doing), I think the bit about defacing coins is more to do with the integrity of the currency and laws going back to the days when coins were actually made of valuable metal and people tried to shave bits off them and melt the shavings down etc.
I don't think it is illegal to deface the Queen's image or put stamps on upside down (a petty thing Irish Repbulicans in Northern Ireland were/are fond of doing), I think the bit about defacing coins is more to do with the integrity of the currency and laws going back to the days when coins were actually made of valuable metal and people tried to shave bits off them and melt the shavings down etc.
I think you're right so far as the coins go; it's illegal to deface a coin because of its monetary value, regardless of what images are on it. (Technically, the coins in your pocket do not belong to you; they are tokens, belonging to the Royal Mint, which represent an amount of money. The amount of money belongs to you, but not the coinage and notes.)
But you're wrong about the stamps; it is a criminal offence to place a stamp upside down.
In both cases - unless you are involved in skimming metal from coins on a professional basis - the chance of you being charged, much less convicted, of either offence is exactly zero. And since coins are now made from base metals, skimming the metal on a professional basis is a loss-making business anyway. Witness, conversely, the position in the USA where a one-cent coin is now worth almost three cents as scrap metal. They are having to actively enforce the law which forbids anyone from melting down coinage.
I think you're right so far as the coins go; it's illegal to deface a coin because of its monetary value, regardless of what images are on it. (Technically, the coins in your pocket do not belong to you; they are tokens, belonging to the Royal Mint, which represent an amount of money. The amount of money belongs to you, but not the coinage and notes.)
But you're wrong about the stamps; it is a criminal offence to place a stamp upside down.
In both cases - unless you are involved in skimming metal from coins on a professional basis - the chance of you being charged, much less convicted, of either offence is exactly zero. And since coins are now made from base metals, skimming the metal on a professional basis is a loss-making business anyway. Witness, conversely, the position in the USA where a one-cent coin is now worth almost three cents as scrap metal. They are having to actively enforce the law which forbids anyone from melting down coinage.
I know somebody who got time for forging..he filed the corners off of 50p pieces to make them into 10p's,needless to say he was a Dee Dah
