The question below has previously been asked on Google Answers;
Subject: Re: Defacing US currency?
From: moneybroker-ga on 23 Jul 2005 17:45 PDT.

Answer 	  

Subject: Re: Defacing US currency? Answered By: tutuzdad-ga on 09 Nov
2004 11:37 PST


 However I could not find an answer response. 



Aside from drilling, or otherwise defacing US currency, can one use US currency
to advertise legally.  I have for some time used very small post-it
style stickers to advertise my business.  I usually place them on 20,
50 and 100 bills.  The stickers come off without damaging the bill, so
I am not defacing the bill.  It is not my intent to render the bill
unusable either.  To the contrary, I want the bill, with my sticker,
circulated as much as possible.  I have received many great business
leads from this method and would hate to learn that it's illegal.  Let
me know.

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 19 Apr 2006 20:10 PDT

box599-ga,

From what I can see of the federal law on this question. defacing
money is *only* illegal if it is intended to defraud.  Shaving metal
off coins to lower its weight is illegal.  Replacing a picture of G.
Washington with one of A. Lincoln to try and pass a one off as a five
is illegal.

Putting on a post-it does not appear to be a problem, however.  

Of course, Google Answers is not here to provide legal advice (see the
disclaimer, bottom of page).  But there doesn't seem to be anything
obvious in the law that would make a sticky-note-on-a-bill illegal,
and experience tells me things like these are done rather routinely
without anyone getting in trouble.

Does that help?

pafalafa-ga

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Clarification of Question by box599-ga on 20 Apr 2006 09:47 PDT

Take a look at SAnta Dollar and Bunny Bucks.
http://www.santadollars.com/home/index.htm
http://www.bunnybucks.com/
Is this legal? I have a million dollar idea if it is.

---

Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 20 Apr 2006 10:05 PDT

As the santadollars site (somewhat cryptically) notes:


Q. How can Santa Dollars? be legal ?

A. Santa Dollars? are a trademark of Marketing Productions, Inc. The
registered trademark assures consumers that Santa Dollars? meet the
requirements of the United States Treasury Department. The registered
Santa Dollar? seal is removable, leaving the bank note intact.



If you really have a million dollar idea, well then....don't forget
your friends at Google Answers :)


paf

Hello box599-ga

Thank you for allowing me to answer your interesting question. I took
the most obvious course of action and phoned the Secret Service, under
whose jurisdiction US currency falls, rather than risk providing you
with incorrect information.

The Secret Service Field Office in Little Rock, Arkansas advised me
that applying a removable, non-damaging sticker to US currency as a
means of advertising is NOT considered defacement under Title 18,
Section 333 of the United States Code and that such activity IS indeed
considered entirely legal.

There you have it, straight from the horse?s mouth.

US SECRET SERVICE FIELD OFFICE CONTACT DIRECTORY
http://www.secretservice.gov/field_offices.shtml


I hope you find that my answer exceeds your expectations. If you have
any questions about my research please post a clarification request
prior to rating the answer. Otherwise I welcome your rating and your
final comments and I look forward to working with you again in the
near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.

Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga ? Google Answers Researcher



INFORMATION SOURCES

Defined above


SEARCH STRATEGY


SEARCH ENGINE USED:

Google ://www.google.com


SEARCH TERMS USED:

US SECRET SERVICE

TITLE 18, SECTION 333 

UNITED STATES CODE

18 USC 333

I haven't found any evidence that this matter is specifically
addressed in the U.S. Code. I would expect that the decision of
whether a bill is being defaced or not would be made on a case-by-case
basis, probably based upon the ease of removal of the sticker.
Apparently USA Network did this kind of thing without adverse legal
consequences:

http://money.cnn.com/2004/01/20/pf/ads_on_dollars/index.htm