Destroying money it is a rare act, because no one, or almost no one, is crazy enough to commit it. However, it may happen that small quantities of banknotes are destroyed reasons for protestto create a artistic performance or for some other reason. Money is personal property and everyone should be free to destroy it if they wish to do so. However, the quantity of banknotes and coins in circulation is established by specific authorities, such as the European Central Bank, and cannot be altered by citizens. So how is the law regulated? The answer varies from country to country. In some cases, as inEuropean Uniondestroy small amounts of money it does not constitute a crime; in other cases, as in United StatesAnd illegal.
What to do with damaged banknotes
First of all, it should be remembered that banknotes are often accidentally damaged or worn out due to use. In this case, which is different from voluntary destruction, in many countries you can turn to the central bank (in our country the Bank of Italy) and ask for its replacement.
However, it can also happen, although it is rarer, that money comes damaged on purpose. In this case the situation varies from country to country. In the eurozonethe European Central Bank has issued a directive under which member states can refuse to replace damaged money voluntarily. The destruction of money, in fact, is not always legal.
Why does someone sometimes destroy banknotes?
Destroying money voluntarily, by burning it or by other means, can be done as an act of protest, as an artistic performance or for other reasons. There are some reasons why destruction may be prohibited by law. Destroying a banknote means though withdraw it from circulation and, therefore, alter the quantity of money that, according to what is established by the authority, must circulate. Of course, destroying one or a few banknotes has no appreciable effect on the economy, but it is different if large amounts of money are destroyed. Furthermore, in some cases they are depicted on banknotes and coins symbols to which one cannot go outrage (for example, the face of the sovereign in monarchical countries) without committing the crime of contempt.
On the other hand, money is Private property and the owner of a banknote has the right to do whatever he wants with it, including voluntarily destroying it. So is it legal to destroy banknotes and coins? The issue can obviously only be discussed in relation to one’s own money: it is trivial but destroying that of others, without their consent, is always illegal.
In Italy and the European Union, within certain limits, it is legal to burn money
European Union countries must comply with a 2010 European Commission recommendation:
Member States must not prohibit or punish the complete destruction of small quantities of euro banknotes or coins by private individuals, but they must prohibit the unauthorized destruction of large quantities of euro banknotes and coins.
In essence, according to the recommendation, destroying a few banknotes is not a crime, but it becomes a crime if large quantities are destroyed. In our country, however, there are no legislative provisions to “practically” implement the European recommendation. Also the penal code, while Article 454 explicitly prohibits the counterfeiting of coins and banknotes and their alteration with the aim of increasing their value, it makes no mention of pure and simple destruction. Consequently, since the destruction of money is not explicitly prohibited, it cannot be prosecuted by law, at least within certain limits.
Countries where the destruction of money is prohibited: United States and other cases
In some jurisdictions, the law punishes the destruction of money. This is the case, for example, of the United States of America. Article 333 of section 18 of the United States Code (the collection of federal laws) establishes that anyone who carries out actions that may make a banknote unfit for circulation is punishable with a fine and imprisonment of up to six months. The law, however, it is not strictly enforced: it happened that some citizens destroyed small amounts of money in protest, without this having had any legal consequences. Laws similar to the US one are found in several other countries, including Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
