The Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981 (c. 45) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which makes it illegal to make fake versions of many things, including legal documents, contracts, audio and visual recordings, and money of the United Kingdom and certain protected coins.

It implements[3] recommendations made by the Law Commission in their report on forgery and counterfeit currency.

[4] These offences are the intentional creation and publication of documents which, if not fake, would have legal force.

These sections of the law cover all manner of documents, for example wills, contracts, and promissory notes.

[2] Section 27(1) provides that, in Part II of the Act, the expression "protected coin" means any coin which is customarily used as money in any country, or which is specified for the purposes of Part II in an order made by the Treasury.