Messed up coins

[spacechimp]

Say you wanted some nice shiny pennies, so you left them in a bottle of vinegar for a few months and forgot about them, and you came back to discover that the copper coating had partially dissolved exposing the steel core, and that, where this hadn't happened, most of the coins were covered in a fairly irremovable coating of verdigris, would you be guilty of tampering with the coinage?

[kempie]

Under Section 10 of the Coinage Act 1971 - no person shall, except under the authority of a licence granted by the Treasury, melt down or break up any metal coin which is currently in circulation in the United Kingdom.

http://www.statutelaw.gov.uk/content.aspx?pare ntActiveTextDocId=1404903&ActiveTextDocId=1404 915&filesize=3839

http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/502D9B6F-BCDC- D4B3-1ACA50E01A806B7E.pdf

I suspect that dissolving a coin is tantamount to "breaking up" and unless you have been granted a licence for this process then you leave yourself open to the �400 (maximum) fine - if anyone can be bothered to prosecute you.

[terambulan]

Was handed a �20 note with beard, skull cap & dot between eyes scribbled on it.....I refused to accept it!

[kempie]

It is a smaller fine for defacing a banknote - �200 maximum (although this is for each banknote).

Is this because defacement requires less effort?

http://www.statutelaw.gov.uk/content.aspx?pare ntActiveTextDocId=1080361&ActiveTextDocId=1080 374&filesize=1802

[spacechimp]

In this hypothetical scenario though, we can reasonably assume that the damage that would be inflicted to the coins would render them no less usable than coins subjected to novelty defacing in museums' coin-pressing machines. Would it not therefore be reasonable to assume that they would not in fact be 'broken down'?

[spacechimp]

on* up*

[kempie]

Never assume etc. etc.

Defacement of coins by elongation etc. is not expressly forbidden but why is it reasonable to equate flattening a coin with dissolving one?

It could be argued that to dissolve is to strip away constituent parts - is this not within the definition of "break up"?

[spacechimp]

Well, perhaps, but it's only really an acceleration of the standard wearing down that coins experience in their lives.

So the miscreant would throw the coins in a wishing well or something, perhaps?