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Some countries have coins that are similar at a glance to those of another country. For example, the American and Canadian one cent coins are both copper-colored and are similar in size; while it does not happen constantly, it's not unheard of to find Canadian cents circulating as American coins, and I would imagine the same thing happens in Canada with US cents. I don't think this is a crime when it happens by mistake, but I imagine it would be if done intentionally.

What crime is committed by a person who deliberately attempts to spend foreign currency or coins as if they were local?

Someone
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  • Are you talking about switching coins of equal value, or the obvious fraud that is getting a thing from a vending machine with a coin that is accepted by the machine because of size and weight, but clearly not the coin asked for and way cheaper? – nvoigt Feb 26 '24 at 06:26
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    Those of us who live in the Detroit area see Canadian pennies so often that we don't bother distinguishing between them. I'm sure that the banks take a different view of the matter. – EvilSnack Feb 26 '24 at 17:37
  • @EvilSnack Here on the other side of Canada's deep south, when I used to roll coins and take them to the bank, they would use magnets to check each roll. – JimmyJames Feb 26 '24 at 18:45
  • As an entirely editorial aside, Canada abolished the penny in 2012. The vast majority of them still in any circulation are most likely in the United States ;) but for the sake of example Canadian quarters are also easily mistaken for the US equivalent. – Affe Feb 26 '24 at 19:42
  • A few cents is not really an issue and if there is just one neighbour country it is all extremely simple. But will you, as a tourist, recognize you were given 1000 HUF instead of 1000 CZK somewhere in Prague? The former is $2.78 and the latter $42.74. – Vladimir F Героям слава Feb 26 '24 at 20:07
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    What could you really be Asking here?

    How could passing off anything as anything else not be straight fraud?

     – Robbie Goodwin Feb 26 '24 at 20:49
  • Unless it's a 1:1 fixed exchange rate? – Andrew T. Feb 27 '24 at 02:31
  • Just as an observation, when the exchange rate was closer to 1:1, there were many U.S. businesses close to the border that would advertise that they accept Canadian currency at 1:1. (This is obviously not relevant to the question, because it would be with full knowledge of both parties, but something to be aware of, since the "value" can be subjective in certain situations.) – GentlePurpleRain Feb 27 '24 at 16:42

1 Answers1

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Fraud

American cent coins are worth 0.01 USD. Canadian cent coins are worth (today) 0.0074 USD due to the exchange of 1 Canadian dollar being worth 0.74 USD.

With the intent to get more for less, this is clearly fraud.

Without intent (accidentally grabbing the wrong coin) would not meet the mens rea requirement.

Trish
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    Wouldn't it be fraud regardless of the exchange rate? I mean, even if I were to pass off a pure gold coin as a 1 cent (US or CA) coin, which would obviously be a very stupid idea and a loss for me, it would still be fraud since I would be passing off a non-1-cent-coin as a 1-cent-coin, right – terdon Feb 26 '24 at 17:30
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    @terdon no: passing off a gold coing as 1 cent would be not to the detriment of the other.# – Trish Feb 26 '24 at 17:46
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    @Trish It could be, though, couldn't it? Net monetary gain wouldn't be the only detriment considered. If the bank rejected depositing the non-standard coin, then they're now burdened with finding some place to convert it. (Or could be punished for not properly balancing their cash drawer.) -- The fact the person proffering the ersatz coin wasn't up front to the receiver about the substitution (or didn't just do the conversion themselves) might not be prima facie evidence they're harming the receiver, but it does waggle its eyebrows suggestively. – R.M. Feb 26 '24 at 18:53
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    @R.M. It is probably more likely to be theft keeping the gold coin after realizing the "mistake" – le3th4x0rbot Feb 27 '24 at 04:49
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    From a certain point of view though, a 0.01 CAD coin is worth exactly 0 USD in the US. Exchanging it back to USD is an extra step, at a lower rate than exchange rate since it's not a free service either. Beyond that, a sale is a contract. If the price is posted as 0.01 USD, then the buyer agrees to pay 0.01 USD, not "0.01 USD or any object of equivalent value", because the seller is asking for legal tender, not barter. It would be unreasonable to argue otherwise. – AmiralPatate Feb 27 '24 at 12:58
  • I purchased several rolls of US dimes from a local bank (for my business) and upon opening them I found one contained several Polish zlotny coins. The bank refused to replace them, claiming that there was no way their roll could have contained such a thing. I switched banks. – Crash Gordon Feb 27 '24 at 17:10
  • @R.M. If you can't deposit it or trade it for cash, then it seems wrong to say it's "worth $X". But if someone gives you gold instead of a regular coin, you can go to a gold buyer and trade it for cash, and presumably come out ahead. – Barmar Feb 27 '24 at 17:39