THE $5.01 FELONY

Jail bait.

It is a federal felony to take more than a $5 combination of nickels and pennies out of the United States without a special permit. Doing so could result in imprisonment of up to five years plus a fine up to $10,000.00 plus forfeiture of the coins themselves.

This penalty is not because of some archaic statute from the 1700s; the provision was actually enacted in 2006 after rising prices for metal caused, at the time the bill was passed, the nickel to have had a melt value of 6.99 cents and a penny (which has been made primarily out of zinc since 1982) to have had a melt value of 1.12 cents. Pennies made prior to 1982 are composed primarily of copper and had (and still have) a melt value of several times their face value. The government was concerned that the coins would be exported and melted down in large quantities with the potential of a resulting shortage of pennies and nickels and the mint having to purchase metal at the higher prices to remanufacture the lost coins.

Well, what about silver coins--the ones generally made prior to 1965? Depending on the current price of silver, their melt value at any time is often ten times or more the face value of the coin. Why isn't the government concerned about that? 

At one point it was, but for all practical purposes, there have been no silver coins in circulation in the United States for over 50 years. The mint has plenty of silver available for the limited amount it uses for any special collector releases or bullion items, and the exportation or melting of pre-1965 silver coins would have a very limited impact on the mint's current obligations or operations. Consequently, if you want to fire up your crucible and turn the prized silver dollar collection you inherited from your grandfather into teaspoons or bullets for werewolf hunting, feel free to do so without concerns about legal jeopardy.*

In short, if you keep a coin jar in your Winnebago containing a lot of pennies or nickels, you had better leave it behind if you are crossing the border from the USA into Canada or Mexico.

*Unless, of course, you realize how risky and foolhardy it would be to base your conduct on an opinion expressed on the internet by a person whom you do not know and who is not even a lawyer--especially since there are yet some other people on the internet who maintain that it is still NOT legal to melt silver coins.