I've always understood that 'a coin of the realm' refers to coins which are
currently legal tender and that it's only illegal to deface these.
I wonder if it also makes a difference when the "coin of the realm" is defaced in another country :) When I went to Israel, in 1966, everybody there kept telling me that my name (Tamar-a) meant "a date-palm tree"... One of the coins then in circulation there, had a palm tree on the obverse; I took 6 of them back to Poland with me, and had a bracelet made, with the coins -- a hole drilled through each -- serving as "charms", hanging off the chain links. Whenever I wore it, someone was sure to mention that I wasn't *supposed to* but, as no Israeli authorities came breathing fire... :)
----- Tamara P Duvall Lexington, Virginia, USA Formerly of Warsaw, Poland http://lorien.emufarm.org/~tpd/
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