Title 18, Crimes and Criminal ProcedureRelease 119-102
§488 Making or Possessing Counterfeit Dies for Foreign Coins
Title 18 › PART I — CRIMES › CHAPTER 25 — COUNTERFEITING AND FORGERY › § 488
Summary
Inside the United States, it is illegal to make or have coin-making tools (dies, hubs, molds) that copy the design or writing used on a foreign government's coins without permission. Violators can be fined under federal law, jailed up to five years, or both.
Full Legal Text
Title 18, §488
Crimes and Criminal Procedure, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
Whoever, within the United States, without lawful authority, makes any die, hub, or mold, or any part thereof, either of steel or of plaster, or of any other substance, in the likeness or similitude, as to the design or the inscription thereon, of any die, hub, or mold designated for the coining of the genuine coin of any foreign government; or Whoever, without lawful authority, possesses any such die, hub, or mold, or any part thereof, or conceals, or knowingly suffers the same to be used for the counterfeiting of any foreign coin— Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Historical and Revision Notes
Based on title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed., § 284 (Mar. 4, 1909, ch. 321, § 170, 35 Stat. 1120). Reference to persons causing, procuring, aiding or assisting was omitted as unnecessary as such persons are made principals by section 2 of this title. Provision for $2,000 fine was increased to $5,000 to conform with section 481 of this title. Changes in phraseology were made.
Editorial Notes
Amendments
1994—Pub. L. 103–322 substituted “fined under this title” for “fined not more than $5,000”.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
18 U.S.C. § 488
Title 18, Crimes and Criminal Procedure
Last Updated
Aug 21, 2026
Release point: 119-102