Aurd
Dear Duncan,
103
OFFICE OF THE PARLIAMENTARY COUNSEL,
WHITEHALL,
SW.1.
4th January, 1936,
Counterfeit Currency (Convention) Act, 1935.
As pointed out in the note on clause 3 of the Bill for
this Act, the Coinage Offences Act, 1861, contained in effect
two separate codes, one applicable to British coinage and the
other applicable to foreign coinage. The foreign coinage
provisions were contained in ss. 18 to 23. The general object
of this clause of the Bill was to carry out our obligations
under the Convention by repealing the special provisions as to
hulling foreign coin, and to put foreign coin in exactly the same
position as British coin under the other provisions of the Act.
The discrepancies between the provisions dealing with
British and foreign coin respectively, which we were obliged to
remove to carry out the Convention, were particularly striking
in relation to the possession of counterfeit coin. Under ss. 11
and 15 of the Act of 1861 it was (and still is) an offence to
have possession of three or more pieces of counterfeit British
coin, with intent to utter the same: and the penalty was and is
5 years' penal servitude in the case of gold and silver coin, and
1 year's imprisonment in the case of copper coin. Under 8.23
of the Act of 1861 it was an offence to have possession of five
or more pieces of counterfeit foreign coin, whether with intent
to utter the same or not: but the penalty was only a fine of
40/- per coin whether gold, silver or copper. When preparing
the Bill it appeared to us that there was no possible reason
for these discrepancies. Under Article 3 of the Convention we were not bound to make the mere possession of counterfeit coin,
-ed without intent to utter, an offence: there seems no reason
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