U.S. Mint to End Mutilated Coin Redemption Program

The U.S. Mint (the Mint) recently released a proposed rule to end the Mutilated Coin Redemption Program. This has been a major issue of concern for the recycled materials industry ever since the Mint suspended the program in 2015.

“ReMA is already working to respond to this latest proposal,” said ReMA President Robin Wiener. “We’re enlisting the help of Congress to resume this important federal program that protects the nation’s coinage system, while delivering important environmental and societal benefits.”

The Mint established the program in 1911 so that holders of bent and partial coins could be exchanged for reimbursement. When washing machines, vending machines, or vehicles get shredded at recycling yards, the coins left inside them get shredded too, becoming bent, damaged, or twisted. Shredders have been accessing the program since its inception and currently have millions of dollars of unredeemed coins in inventory, awaiting the restart of the program.

Throughout the 2000s and 2010s, the Mint received a large number of coins from foreign participants. Believing some of these coins could be counterfeit, the Mint suspended the program in 2015 to assess its security. The Mint briefly resumed the program in early January 2017 and then issued another proposed rule restricting certain industries from submitting mutilated coins (including the recycled materials industry).

In response, ReMA (ISRI at the time) provided several recommendations to the Mint to strengthen the program including establishing a registered supplier program that included allowing random inspections; a new “trusted certification program.” An education campaign was also conducted within the Congress, emphasizing how the recycled materials industry has helped the Mint protect the security and maintain the sustainability and circularity of the nation’s coinage system.

ReMA is currently submitting comments on the new proposed rule. The commenting period will end on July 2.