criminal-law currency marketing
Is it legal to sell currency at a price lower than face value?
<p>Here is something that I thought would make a fun PR stunt to promote my business.</p>
<p>I stand on the corner of a busy street corner in San Francisco, or any large city, dressed well, say in a business suit, with a sign that reads -</p>
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<p>Crisp New $5 bills, just $1</p>
</blockquote>
<p>And I would have 20 real $5 bills and it would be legit.</p>
<p>Now yes on the surface this looks like a dumb stunt financially, but certain people might wonder, especially say, tourists from another country passing by, and think - I don't understand - plus I am enough of an entertainer to say I am from the future or I was told by aliens to do this.</p>
<p>I'm wondering about the legal perspective regarding novel marketing that looks suspicious, but I would contend that it is in my right under both free speech and that there is no specific law that forbids the sale of US currency for less than face value.</p>

<blockquote>
<p>Is it legal to sell currency at a price lower than face value?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Yes. In fact, <em>to donate</em> is the act of transferring <em>for free</em> the ownership of something. Outlawing a transaction that is less extreme than a donation would be inconsistent with the lawfulness of donations.</p>
<p>A significant departure from the market exchange rate does not affect the validity of currency exchange. A &quot;sale&quot; of currency in terms of itself is not illegal, since the transaction can be viewed as a combination of two transactions performed instantaneously and involving the <em>fiction</em> of an intermediary currency.</p>
<p>Offers of currency for less than face value also happen very often when transacting the bonds issued by a country's central bank. Any two parties can transact those bonds in secondary markets. The scenario you describe obviates redemption periods, fluctuation risks, and various formalities, but those differences are inconsequential from a legal standpoint.</p>

<h2>You can sell whatever you own for whatever price you like</h2>
<p>The common law is very strong on the freedom to contract. You decide what value you want to place on the things you want to sell (or buy) and, subject to you being free of coercion or breaching competition law, no one is going to interfere.</p>
<p>If you want to sell something objectively worth $5 (a $5 bill, say) for $1, that's up to you.</p>
