Definition
An archaic Law French term meaning counterfeit, used in early English legal records to describe falsified or clipped coinage. The term appears in medieval exchequer records, most prominently in the phrase "clypt ou conterfet money" — clipped or counterfeit money — denoting currency that had been either physically debased (by shaving metal from the coin's edge) or fraudulently fabricated to resemble lawful coin of the realm. As a legal term, conterfet does not describe a standalone offense with defined elements so much as it functions as a descriptive label in fiscal and criminal records identifying money that was not genuine lawful tender.
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): "Counterfeit" — made in imitation of something else with intent to deceive; not genuine; forged.
Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): "Counterfeit" — made in imitation of something, with a view to defraud, by passing the false copy for genuine or original; as, counterfeit coin, paper, or notes.
The gap between common and legal usage here is primarily one of form, not substance. The modern English word "counterfeit" and the Law French conterfet share the same root and the same core meaning. What distinguishes conterfet as a legal term is its specific, bounded use in medieval exchequer and fiscal records — it is a term of art in a particular documentary context, not a general descriptor.
Common Confusion
Burrill's entry conflates two distinct concepts under one headword, which reflects either an editorial anomaly or a manuscript transcription that ran two separate entries together. The first portion — conterfet as counterfeit money in exchequer records — is a discrete fiscal and criminal law term. The second portion, beginning with a reference to Blackstone at 3 Bl. Com. 296, concerns contestation of suit and litis contestatio in ecclesiastical court practice. These are unrelated concepts. Researchers encountering Burrill's entry should treat them separately. The reference to Blackstone and Stephen on pleading belongs properly to the entry for CONTESTATION OF SUIT, not to conterfet.
Why It Matters in Research
Researchers working in medieval English fiscal records, exchequer rolls, or early criminal proceedings related to currency offenses will encounter conterfet as a documentary label rather than as a charged legal standard. Its pairing with "clypt" (clipped) in the phrase "clypt ou conterfet money" is significant: clipping and counterfeiting were related but distinct offenses in medieval law. Clipping involved the physical degradation of genuine coin; counterfeiting involved the fabrication of false coin. Both were treated as serious offenses against the crown's monetary authority, with counterfeiting in particular carrying implications of treason in later periods.
The Burrill entry cites "Mem. in Scacc. T. 20 Edw. I." — a memorandum in the Exchequer from the twentieth year of Edward I's reign (approximately 1292). This places the term squarely in the late thirteenth century and in the administrative records of royal finance. Researchers using Law Mind's historical corpus should be aware that the term will appear almost exclusively in this documentary context: exchequer memoranda, plea rolls, and related fiscal instruments. It will not appear as a term of art in common law pleading or equity.
The editorial confusion in Burrill's entry — running conterfet into a discussion of contestation of suit — is a trap for researchers conducting keyword searches. A search returning Burrill's conterfet entry will surface material about ecclesiastical pleading that has nothing to do with counterfeiting. Follow the cross-references with caution.
Historical Dictionary Support
Burrill is the primary historical dictionary source for this term, and his entry is notable more for its confusion than its clarity. The first clause — the Law French phrase and the exchequer citation — is straightforwardly informative. The remainder of the entry appears to be a continuation of an adjacent entry (likely CONTESTATION OF SUIT) that was folded into this headword, whether through editorial error or manuscript transcription failure.
Blackstone's treatment at 3 Bl. Com. 296 and Stephen's Pleading (Appendix, Note 39) address contestation as a procedural concept in common law and ecclesiastical practice. Hallifax's Analysis of the Civil Law (Book 3, Chapter 11, Number 9) addresses litis contestatio in civilian and ecclesiastical procedure. None of these sources speak to conterfet as counterfeit money. The historical dictionaries do not otherwise develop this term at length, which is consistent with its narrow documentary function.
Jurisdictional Note
Conterfet as a legal term is specific to medieval English legal and fiscal records. It has no meaningful parallel in American law, where counterfeiting is governed by federal statute. Researchers in Scottish, Irish, or continental European records will encounter cognate terms but not this precise Law French form.
Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
Law Mind Encyclopedia — Counterfeiting
Law Mind Encyclopedia — Contestation of Suit (for the Burrill entry's secondary content)
Law Mind Encyclopedia — Litis Contestatio