Posted by Neil Wyatt on 15/05/2023 18:08:23:
You can't " melt down or break up any metal coin " so presumably the machines which squash coins and emboss the name of a seaside town or other tourist attraction are still legal!
Neil
British law dates back to when the metal value of coins matched their face face value – a Florin contained 2/- worth of Silver. Thus, for both local and international trade, anyone's coinage was acceptable in exchange for goods.
Unfortunately, people would hoard coins, causing trade to grind to a halt, clip metal off the edges, replace sections with base metal, replace real with fakes, and otherwise undermine the whole economy for personal gain. Another serious problem was that the value of Gold and Silver aren't stable, so if the scrap price of Gold rose above the face-value of the coinage, then coins would be melted down, bringing trade to a halt due to a shortage of money. The government would be required to mint more, buying metal in short supply that cost more than the value of the coin. Nasty.
The first response was to make coins the property of the King or Government, their metal value being on loan, rather than owned outright by individuals. This made it possible to apply serious punishments to anyone who messed with the currency, up to and including the death penalty. Undermining the money system was in the same league as treason.
Second response was to realise that as coins were now only tokens, their value assured by the state, there was no need for the metal to match the face value. And carrying the token idea forward, it was found far more convenient for money to be on paper – banknotes, bonds and shares, or even just in a ledger or in a telegram.
As modern coins aren't central to trade any more, and are rarely worth the metal they're made of, the law is unlikely to be interested. Unless the abuse is on a large-scale. Minting your own money is still serious crime!
Dave