A $50 Bill Becomes Toby Keith In A TikTok Hit

The Oklahoma TikTok algorithm is shockingly wide and varied. It's mostly severe weather-related content with a mix of good eats, people trying to become influencers, slutty girls showing what goods the Tok lets them, and then there's the Sooner State randomness of it all.

Motorcycles, specifically dirt bikes, are still super popular in Oklahoma, and I think that's a great thing. Every kid needs a dirt bike.

What caught me off guard was seeing someone transforming President Grant on a $50 bill into a drawing of Toby Keith. I thought it was cool, and that led to a deep dive into dollar art.

@.dollart Toby Keith🇺🇸

Is it picture-perfect? No, but it's close enough to be a solid homage to the Sooner State legend. I mean, I know it's $50, but would you spend it if you happened to get it in change from a cashier? Probably not.

When the cool factor wore off, I started to think, "Isn't that illegal?" The answer is surprising.

What constitutes defacing currency? 

By the law, defacing currency is modifying it in any way that would prevent it from being circulated/recirculated.

Tearing it in half, burning it, poking holes, etc...

As it turns out, painting or printing something on a bill is not only legal, but it also doesn't meet the definition of defacement, as it's still technically able to be circulated.

All of those "Trump Lives Here" stamped $20s are still legal tender and get pumped back out into the economy... because it's considered free expression and the government isn't allowed to determine what is and isn't offensive in the context of free speech and art.

While the art may keep the legal tender out of circulation, out of the choice of who owns it, it would still be circulable. This was a huge issue the courts settled when President Clinton kept autographing dollar bills in the 1990s.

Coins are different.

I've seen a handful of shorts where someone takes a US coin and engraves it to be something else. Washington toking on a joint, replacing a president with a skull face, adding philligree for style, etc...

That is highly illegal, even in the sense of art, because it is destructive to the coin.

It's also one of America's oldest laws concerning legal tender. Back when coins were made of gold and silver, people would scrape shavings off the edges. Over the years, you could have your own little pile of zero-cost precious metal to sell.

While it's a super random topic that started with an homage to an Oklahoma legend, there's the deep dive into it.