STRIPPING GOLD OFF COINS--IS IT LEGAL?

[Eric]

I know it is against the law to deface currency but is it illegal to strip the gold or platinum off a coin printed by the U.S. Mint? What about foreign coins like the Chinese Platinum Panda Coin or one of those Elvis Presley Commemorative Coins you always see on one of those infomercials at 3am?

Thanks.

 

[pcecycle]

I would think it would be OK to strip the commemorative coins like those from the Franklin mint. Foreign gold and platinum coins like the Pandas or Kookaburas should not be stripped as they are already a recognized form and worth more as they are.

Mike

 

[markqf1]

Good point!
On the other hand, If you were to strip the coin's, who would know, that you didn't tell?

Mark

 

[viacin]

here's a list of the gold melt value of several coins. http://www.coinflation.com/gold_coin_values.html

Honestly though, I've searched for a few of these and every time the coin sells for much more than the actual gold value. The $50 american buffalo gold coin is a good example. It contains 1 troy oz of 24k gold. Gold value today, $860. The ACTUAL sell value of this coin $1,889.99 on HSN.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCBYEdebfHc