The History of Coin Alteration

Editor’s Note: For nearly 70 years, the feature-rich pages of Coins magazine, Numismatic News’ venerable sister publication, have tracked the history, fun and the growth of this great hobby, while also attracting new collectors to pursue what was once deemed the “hobby of kings.” Dusting off these time-aged issues, from the early 1960s and beyond, each installment of “Past Times with Coins,” written by its former longtime editor, explores what nuggets of interest they contain.

Following the publication of an article in the October 1962 issue of Coins about cut coins – coins that had been crafted into jewelry etc. – the magazine’s editor pondered in the January 1964 issue as to what is legal and illegal about such mutilations.

“About a year ago, when we were preparing a story on piercing coins for jewelry, a question came up about the legality of ‘mutilating’ coins. Does the law allow you to cut up U.S. coins and use them for jewelry or purposes other than exchange?” wrote the editor under the headline,