Is it possible to build a machine which can replicate a monetary coin?

Question

Even if it's somehow possible to replicate a coin, I asked this question because of the implications it poses. For example, how is it possible to prove ownership of a few moles of a substance? So, if I can replicate a coin, what evidence do people have against me? In defense, I can easily say that this coin was not replicated, or I received it as change from the local shop. You cannot prove the ownership of a group of atoms. In order to prove that something belongs to you, you need to prove that every atom in that object has your name written all over it ...

Answer 1

of course its possible!^__^ but ud probably go to jail for the rest of ur life!

Answer 2

since coins have no serial number, and if you made an exact copy, with exactly the same alloys and layers, then the government could not prove it counterfeit.

But making money by counterfeiting coins is not very profitable. cost of materials, cost of machinery, cost of electricity, cost of the large building required for the machinery, labor to run the machines, cost of the dies (they wear out quickly), labor of carrying them to many different banks...

Also, if you government could prove you cashed in 100000 quarters and they could not locate any bank you obtained them from, they may have a case against you.

Answer 3

Sure, it's possible. I don't think it would be legal, though. Using it would definitely be illegal. Even just building it would probably be illegal too.

Answer 4

sure...it would take a lot of money to build something like that since coins are pressed at tremendous PSI; the pressures at which coins are pressed are so high it liquifies the metal to flow into a diecast, coins are not stamped. and this would be completely illegal since this is counterfeiting.

ha. thumbs down. anyway...furthermore, your replicated coin--even though it might be similar to a minted coin--is "worthless"; the point of circulated money is that it represents an amount of gold equal to the amount that coin represents: 1 penny represents 1 cent of gold in a reserve. supposedly, all the money printed/pressed is linked to an amount of money held by the government....because you pressed your own coin, without it being backed by gold in a reserve, it's "worthless" as "legal tender" as in you cannot use that to pay a debt.

the implication of minting your own coins is that you would be flooding the economy with more currency than there is gold to back it; and since your coin is an exact copy of money in circulation, so there is no way to determine which is backed and which is counterfeit...you would probably be devaluing the worth the coin. and some other complicate things like that which are beyond the scope of your question.

aside: i think nickels and pennies are worth more (in metal) than the amount of money they represent to be worth--but you can't go melting down coins for scrap metal...that's another illegal activity.