18 U.S.C. § 488
Section 488 · Making or possessing counterfeit dies for foreign coins
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 3 court decisions — leading case United States v. Skillman (1990)
Most recently applied in United States v. Skillman (September 1990)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Whoever, within the United States, without lawful authority, makes any die, hub, or mold, or any part thereof, either of steel or of plaster, or of any other substance, in the likeness or similitude, as to the design or the inscription thereon, of any die, hub, or mold designated for the coining of the genuine coin of any foreign government; or
Whoever, without lawful authority, possesses any such die, hub, or mold, or any part thereof, or conceals, or knowingly suffers the same to be used for the counterfeiting of any foreign coin—
Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Historical and Revision Notes
Based on title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed., §284 (Mar. 4, 1909, ch. 321, §170, 35 Stat. 1120).
Reference to persons causing, procuring, aiding or assisting was omitted as unnecessary as such persons are made principals by section 2 of this title.
Provision for $2,000 fine was increased to $5,000 to conform with section 481 of this title.
Changes in phraseology were made.
Amendments
1994—Pub. L. 103–322 substituted “fined under this title” for “fined not more than $5,000”.
Canal Zone
Applicability of section to Canal Zone, see section 14 of this title.