Chapter 52.
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/statutes-at-large/vol-23/chapter-52-99306·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
CHAP. 52.— An act to prevent and punish the counterfeiting within the United States of notes, bonds, or other securities of foreign Governments.May 16, 1884. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*,Forging or counterfeiting within the U. S., notes, bonds or other securities of foreign Governments. That every person who, within the United States or any Territory thereof, with intent to defraud, falsely makes, alters, forges, or counterfeits any bond, certificate, obligation, or other security in imitation of, or purporting to be an imitation of, any bond, certificate, obligation, or other security of any foreign Government, issued or put forth under the authority of such foreign Government, or any treasury note, bill, or promise to pay issued by such foreign Government, and intended to circulate as money, either by law, order, or decree of such foreign Government, and any person who causes or procures to be so falsely made, altered, forged, or counterfeited, or who knowingly aids or assists in making, altering, forging, 23 or counterfeiting, any such bond, certificate, obligation, or other security, or any such treasury note, bill, or promise to pay, intended as aforesaid to circulate as money, shall, upon conviction thereof in anyPenalties. circuit or district court of the United States, be punished by a fine of not more than five thousand dollars and by imprisonment at hard labor not more than five years.
Sec. 2. That every person who knowingly, and with intent to defraud,Passing forged bonds, etc. utters, passes, or puts off, in payment or negotiation, within the United States or any Territory thereof, any such false, forged, or counterfeit bond, certificate, obligation, security, treasury note, bill, or promise to pay, as mentioned in the first section of this act, whether the same was made, altered, forged, or counterfeited within the United States or not, shall, upon conviction as aforesaid, be punished by a finePenalty. of not more than three thousand dollars and by imprisonment at hard labor not more than three years.
Sec. 3. That every person who shall, with intent to defraud, falsely,Bank notes. within the United States or any Territory thereof, make, alter, forge, or counterfeit, or shall cause or procure to be so made, altered, forged, or counterfeited, or shall knowingly aid and assist in the false making, altering, forging, or counterfeiting, of any bank note or bill issued by a bank or other corporation of any foreign country, and intended by the law or usage of such foreign country to circulate as money, such bank or corporation being authorized by the laws of such country shall, upon conviction in any circuit or district court of the United States, be punished by a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars, and by imprisonment at hard labor not more than two years.
Sec. 4. That every person who shall, within the United States or anyPassing counterfeit bank notes, etc. Territory thereof, utter, pass, put off, or tender in payment, with intent to defraud, any such false, forged, altered, or counterfeited bank note or bill, as mentioned in the preceding section, knowing the same to be so false, forged, altered, and counterfeited, whether the same was made, altered, forged, and counterfeited within the United States or not, shall, upon conviction as aforesaid, be punished by a fine of not more thanPenalty. one thousand dollars and by imprisonment at hard labor not more than one year.
Sec. 5. That every person who, within the United States or any TerritoryHaving forged bonds, etc., in possession. thereof, shall have in his possession any such false, forged, or counterfeit bond, certificate, obligation, security, treasury note, bill, promise to pay, bank note, or bill issued by a bank or other corporation of any foreign country, with intent to utter, pass, or put off the same, or to deliver the same to any other person with intent that the same may thereafter be uttered, passed, or put off as true, or who shall knowingly deliver the same to any other person with such intent, shall, upon conviction as aforesaid, be, punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars and by imprisonment at hard labor not more than one year.
Sec. 6. That every person who, within the United States or any TerritoryHaving in possession, unlawfully, plates, etc. thereof, having control, custody, or possession of any plate, or any part thereof, from which has been printed or may be printed any counterfeit note, bond, obligation, or other security, in whole or in part, of any foreign Government, bank, or corporation, except by lawful authority, or who uses such plate, or knowingly permits or suffers the same to be used, in counterfeiting such foreign obligations, or any part thereof, and every person who engraves, or causes or procures to be engraved, or assists in engraving, any plate in the likeness or similitude of any plate designed for the printing of the genuine issues of the obligationsPrinting, etc., from such plates. of any foreign Government, bank, or corporation, and every person who prints, photographs, or in any other manner makes, executes, or sells, or causes to be printed, photographed, made, executed, or sold, or aids in printing, photographing, making, executing, or selling, any engraving, photograph, print, or impression in the likeness of any genuine note, bond, obligation, or other security, or any part thereof, of 24 any foreign Government, bank, or corporation, or who brings into the United States or any Territory thereof any counterfeit plate, engraving, photograph, print, or other impressions of the notes, bonds, obligations, or other securities of any foreign Government, bank, or corporation, Penalty.shall be punished by a tine of not more than five thousand dollars, or by imprisonment at hard labor not more than five years, or both.
Approved, May 16, 1884.