Definition
Milled money means coined money — that is, currency that has been struck or stamped through the minting process. The term does not require that the coins bear any particular edge treatment, such as ridging, grooving, or rolling along the rim. Any coin produced by legitimate coining is milled money within the legal meaning of the term.
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): "Milled" in the context of coins refers specifically to coins with a ridged or serrated edge — the milling being the mechanical process that cuts those grooves around the coin's circumference.
Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): Webster's defines "milled" in the monetary sense as pertaining to coins that have been processed through a mill, with edge-marking being a recognized feature of such coins.
The gap matters: Ordinary English — both historical and modern — ties "milled" to the edge treatment of a coin, the familiar ridged rim that distinguishes, for example, a dime from a penny. The legal meaning is broader and does not depend on that feature at all. A coin without any edge marking is still milled money in law. Researchers applying the common meaning of the word will read the legal term too narrowly.
Common Confusion
The common meaning of "milled" points directly to the edge-ridging process introduced in part to prevent coin-clipping — the practice of shaving metal from a coin's rim while leaving the face intact. Because milled edges were historically the marker of an unclipped, full-weight coin, it is easy to assume the legal term incorporates that feature as a requirement. The historical sources uniformly correct this assumption: the legal definition asks only whether the money is coined, not how its edges are finished. Bouvier traces this clarification to Running's Case (Leach, Crown Cases Reserved 708), and that single source is the authority all four dictionaries cite.
Why It Matters in Research
This term appears almost exclusively in historical criminal law contexts, particularly in cases involving counterfeiting, coining offenses, and related currency crimes under English law. Researchers encountering "milled money" in older indictments, pleadings, or statutes should treat it as a descriptor meaning coined money generally — not a term of art distinguishing one class of coins from another by their physical finish.
The practical trap is anachronistic reading. A researcher familiar with numismatic vocabulary may interpret "milled money" as referring only to edge-milled coins and conclude that smooth-edged coins fall outside the statute or charge at issue. The historical sources exist precisely to foreclose that reading.
The term is most likely to surface in:
— English criminal law materials, particularly 18th- and 19th-century crown court cases
— Indictments for counterfeiting or uttering false coin
— Legal arguments about whether a particular coin falls within a statutory prohibition
The term has no meaningful continuing use in modern American law. Researchers working in modern money-related legal contexts — money laundering, anti-money laundering compliance, banking regulation — will not encounter this term as an operative concept. Those are distinct bodies of law addressed elsewhere in the corpus.
Historical Dictionary Support
All four source dictionaries are in complete agreement, and three of the four reproduce the same sentence almost verbatim: "This term means merely coined money; and it is not necessary that it should be marked or rolled on the edges." Rapalje & Lawrence compress this to "Coined money" with only the case citation appended. Every entry traces the definition to the same authority: Leach's Crown Cases Reserved, at page 708, specifically identified by Bouvier as Running's Case.
The uniformity is notable. There is no divergence, no evolution, and no dispute across the shelf. This is a narrow, settled definitional point from a single case, preserved without revision across multiple editions and compilers. What the historical sources do not address is any statutory context or subsequent development — the entry exists solely to correct the misleading common meaning of the word "milled." Researchers should not expect to find elaboration beyond that corrective function.
Jurisdictional Note
This term originates in English criminal law and appears in American legal dictionaries by inheritance rather than by any distinct American legal development. No significant American jurisdictional variation is documented in the source materials.
Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
The Law Mind Criminal Law Encyclopedia: Money Laundering (18 USC 1956-1957) — for modern federal currency-crime context, though milled money as a term does not appear there
The Law Mind Business Organizations & Corporate Law Encyclopedia: Banking — Bank Secrecy Act and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) — for regulatory framework governing currency in contemporary practice