Sections 489 and 475 of Title 18 are in essence copyright statutes. However, in the past the Department has sought to limit their application—to avoid a multitude of prosecutions for trivial violations. Prosecution under 18 U.S.C. § 489 has been limited to those instances in which the token or device in question has some potential for being mistaken for a genuine coin by the ignorant or unwary. In this regard, the Department and Secret Service have agreed that no prosecution should be undertaken under 18 U.S.C. § 489 for a token or device which is more than twice the size of a silver dollar or less than half the size of a dime. In gauging whether a token or device which is more than half the size of a dime but less than the size of a silver dollar is appropriate for prosecution, the additional factors of color and design should be closely scrutinized. The Fraud Section of the Criminal Division is available for consultation on all issues pertaining to the utilization of these statutes.

[updated January 2020]