In England, forgery was regarded as a serious crime, and forgers were less likely to have their sentences reduced to transportation than murderers, burglars and robbers. Forgery of the King's currency was treason. Men were punished by hanging, drawing and quartering, and women by burning at the stake. By the 18th century, punishment for men was in practice reduced to simple hanging, but women were still burnt at the stake. Twenty thousand went to Tyburn to watch Phoebe Harris go to the stake for burning in 1786, but the last burning for coining took place in 1789. (See Richard Byrne, The London Dungeon Book of Crime and Punishment, London, 1993, pp. 115-118)
The law was tempered c.1832 to make the punisment imprisonment or transportation, depending on the specific type of offence.
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COINING, in Law. The privilege of coining money being an exclusive prerogative of the Crown, the crime of counterfeiting the king's money, as it was called, was declared to be treason, both by the common law of England and by statutes. In Scotland, there continued to be some differences in regard to this crime, even after the Union had extended the treason laws of England to that kingdom.
The whole of the legislation on this subject was at length repealed, and a general act passed for the whole kingdom (2 Will. IV c.34). By this statute it is enacted –
1. That any one who shall fabricate a coin in imitation of a current gold or silver coin – or gild silver, or colour any counterfeit gold or silver coin – or shall alter silver coin with intent to make it pass for gold coin – or copper coin, to make it pass for gold or silver coin, shall be punishable with transportation for life, or for a term of not less than seven years, or with imprisonment for a term not exceeding four years.
2. That any one who shall impair, diminish, or lighten gold or silver coin, shall be punishable with transportation for seven years, or imprisonment for three years.
3. That any one who shall buy, sell, receive, pay, or put off counterfeit gold or silver coin for a lower value than its denomination, or shall import counterfeit gold or silver coins, knowing it to be such, shall be punishable with transportation for life, or seven years, or with imprisonment for not more than four years.
4. The uttering (q.v.) of base coin is punishable with imprisonment for a year.
5. By subsequent clauses, the possession of false money, with intent to utter the same; or of instruments for its fabrication; the conveying of such instruments out of the mint without authority; the fabrication of copper coin, and the altering of current coin so as to make it pass for coin of a higher denomination, are declared to be offences all of which are visited with punishments resembling those above mentioned.
In order to bring these offences within the limits of the statute, it is not necessary that the resemblance of the false to the true coin shall be very perfect; but if it be not such as to deceive a person of ordinary observation, the attempt to bring it into circulation is fraud and not uttering.
(Chambers Encyclopaedia, Vol. III pp.117-18)
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