Question: I received change for something I purchased from the local grocers, and I realized that some of the change that I received was counterfeit money.
1) Is it permissible for me to return the money to the storekeeper, if he openly tells me that he plans to pass the money on to someone else who won’t realize? 2) If the storekeeper refuses to take back the counterfeit money, may I continue to use it, with the assumption that most people don’t realize, therefore, I am not really causing anyone a loss?
Clearly Recognizable Counterfeit Money
The Gemara in Bava Metzia (52a) teaches, and is so ruled by the Shulchan Aruch (Choshen Mishpot 227:18) without any dispute, that it is forbidden to pass on counterfeit money to someone who will end up tricking someone else with it. Rather, one should pierce a hole in the coin, and he should use it to make a necklace. Based on this halachah, it is obvious that if the counterfeit is clearly visible, it is forbidden to continue using the money. Consequently, if a storekeeper gives such money as change, the buyer can cancel the sale – since the money is clearly fake, it is not considered money, and one who realizes such money is counterfeit and continues to use it is a thief. It is forbidden to keep such a coin in one’s possession, and one must get rid of it.
What Is Considered “Clearly Recognizable”?
For something to be clear that it is counterfeit, it must be missing one of the clear signs that make money real, i.e., it is missing one of the following: The denomination of the banknote in metallic gold; a reduced portrait that is revealed when held up to light; a security thread that is revealed when held up to light; ink engravings that are noticeable to the blind; a hidden triangular mark that is revealed when the banknote is moved; ink changes color when the banknote is moved; the material from which the banknote is made creates a characteristic rustling sound. If the note is missing any of the above, it is “clearly recognizable” that the note is a counterfeit.
What If It’s Not Clearly a Counterfeit?
However, in a case where it is not so clear that the money is counterfeit, then there is a machlokes haposkim as to how to proceed.
R’ Elyashiv zt”l and R’ Yehuda Chezner shlita hold that even if the counterfeit is done well, and it is difficult to see that it is a fake, the money isn’t considered real money, and it is forbidden to pass it on to someone else.
There are a number of reasons to explain this opinion: It is considered hezek [damage] for the person at the end of the line who is eventually going to get caught when the money is checked. Additionally, it is a mekech ta’us [mistaken sale], and geneivas da’as [tricking of one’s mind]. There is also the prohibition of אל תשכן באהלך עולה – “one shouldn’t have in his possession bad things.”
Additionally, since the government has laws which disqualify the use of such money, and nowadays the value of money is not because of the intrinsic value of the material it is made from (unlike in the times of Chazal where the material the coin was made from was its value), rather, the value of money is determined by the government of each place as to how much the coin is worth. Consequently, even if we would say that nowadays there is no דינא דמלכותא דינא – one doesn’t need to listen to the laws set out by the government, the government still has a power to determine the value of money, and since they hold that counterfeit money isn’t worth anything, we can’t consider it to be money that has any value.
Poskim That Are Lenient
On the other hand, R’ Yisrael Yaakov Fisher zt”l, R’ Meir Steinberg shlita and a number of other prominent poskim maintain that if the counterfeit looks real and only experts are able to tell that it’s counterfeit, one may continue to use the money and pass it on to someone else, and it’s not considered a hezek, as the recipient will always be able to pass it on to someone else.
Although the government disqualifies the use of such money, they don’t have the power to disqualify something which is not recognizable in the eyes of regular people, and most people don’t have the required equipment to be able to determine if money is counterfeit or not, therefore, they can’t disqualify such a thing and say it has no value whatsoever. (In England at one point, 1 in 3 coins were counterfeited, and because of this they made a law that all coins are valid).
What About $100 Bill?
R’ Meir Steinberg adds: The above only applies to coins such as a 10-shekel coin which is a small amount of money and is unlikely to cause someone any harm, as one can easily pass it on, as people aren’t careful to check such things. However, with a $100 bill for example, where it is very common for people to check, and one is likely to be caught out if it is a fake, then one shouldn’t use such a bill, and he must get rid of it.
Returning It to the Seller
In a case where the counterfeited money is not easily recognizable, the seller can argue קים לי – I hold like the opinions that such money may be used, and the buyer would have to bring proof otherwise, therefore, if he is happy to take it back it would be okay to return it. However, when it is clearly recognizable that it is a counterfeit, then seemingly it would be forbidden to return it as the buyer has an obligation to destroy such money, as it may end up being used to trick people, and seemingly the storekeeper would still owe the buyer money, as he hasn’t yet given him change that has monetary value.
However, R’ Blau zt”l (Pischei Choshen, Ona’ah, Perek 11, end of he’orah 46) held that counterfeit money may be returned, as the halachah is by a mekach taus [mistaken sale] that the money remains in the jurisdiction of the original owner, therefore, the customer has no obligation to get rid of it as it is not in his possession.
What About Lifnei Iver [Creating a Stumbling Block]
Another reason to forbid giving the money back to the storekeeper is that it may be lifnei iver, as by returning it, the customer is causing the storekeeper to stumble and to continue using it. However, regarding this R’ Blau writes: It is not a problem, as the customer doesn’t want to lose money, and the counterfeited money belongs to the storekeeper and the customer isn’t obligated to spend his own money to save the storekeeper from an issur.
R’ Shlomah Zalman Auerbach zt”l (Shu”t Minchas Shlomah, Vol. 1, end of siman 7) also writes that there is no prohibition of lifnei iver, if one does something in order to save his own money.
May the Customer Return the Counterfeit Money to the Storekeeper in a Manner that He Won’t Realize?
If the storekeeper denies that the counterfeit money was ever his, and the customer can’t prove in Beis Din that he received it from the storekeeper, it may well be forbidden for the customer who knows the truth to return the money in a way that the storekeeper won’t realize. As doing so is going to cause the storekeeper to stumble as he is certainly going to pass on the counterfeit money without realizing and the Shu”t Pri Yitzchak (Vol. 1, siman 48) writes that there is lifnei iver, even if the one who stumbles is shogeg [does accidentally].
