As Hermione, herself points out, the only danger with the fake coins used for communication among the DA (Dumbledore's Army) would be that someone might actually spend them. This brings up the possibility of using these Galleons to your advantage. While goblins can determine if a Galleon is fake, the regular wizard probably doesn't check for that kind of thing. Therefore, shouldn't those Galleons have been illegal?
Answer
I don't have an exactly canon answer but possible a practical one.
At first I wondered if they were fake, or if she just enchanted real ones; besides it being expensive, I found the following quote:
She gave each of the members of the D.A. a fake Galleon (Ron became very excited when he first saw the basket and was convinced she was actually giving out gold).
That seems to confirm that they were fake.. but that doesn't necessarily mean they are illegal. Counterfeit coins that are not meant to be used as coinage aren't exactly illegal; search the net, and you will find many 'Copy of 1XXX' coin sales. (Doing a quick search on a auction site, I found "Copy Silver Clad 1891-CC Morgan Silver Dollar - Rare Carson City Date" on the first page.)
As far as I know, they're not technically illegal if you neither create them, possess them, nor distribute them with the intent that they enter the monetary system as the coins they appear to be. (Crimes tends to require an intent; sometimes it can assumed to be inherent in the object itself, but rarely -- usually it's what use you put it to or can be shown to intend to put it to that matters.)
A fine point, I'll admit, but it's also what allows parody money (like the $1,000,000 bills you can find at joke shops) and similar items to exist. Usually they are done in such a way that it is clear at a glance that they are not real. Prop money in Hollywood is similar, but visibly more believable; it can be told from the real thing, but not at a quick glance.
The statutes in the Muggle world tend to take a form such as:
"every person who possesses or receives, with the intent to pass or facilitate the passage or utterance of any forged, altered, or counterfeit items, [...] with the intent to defraud, knowing the same to be forged, altered, or counterfeit, is guilty of forgery.”
California Penal code §475(a) (forgery).
Note -- 'Pass or facilitate the passage or utterance of' -- that's talking about passing them off as the real thing, or helping others to do so and 'with the intent to defraud.'
Or, for a UK example: (since, as Rand al'Thor points out, the books take place in the UK.)
[Emphasis added by me]
"14. It is an offence for a person to make a counterfeit of a currency note or of a protected coin, intending that he or another shall pass or tender it as genuine."
Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981,
Mere possession isn't usually enough; in most places it has to be accompanied by criminal intent. (See: US v Cardillo and US v Ratner for examples of trying to prove intent, as mere possession wasn't enough.) That said, it can be pretty hard to explain why you have fake money.
Again, looking at the UK Forgery and Counterfeiting Act, Intent is important:
[Emphasis added by me]
"15 (1)It is an offence for a person—
(a)to pass or tender as genuine any thing which is, and which he knows or believes to be, a counterfeit of a currency note or of a protected coin"
Were Hermione caught with them she might have a lot of explaining to do, but I don't think it's technically illegal. That said, absent a book on Wizard Law, I'm not sure we can know. (Unless it's directly addressed, in one of the books, and I've just forgotten it.)
Caveat - I'm not a lawyer; I don't even play one on TV.
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