The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) applauded the decision by the U.S. Mint to resume the Mutilated Coin Redemption Program after a nearly three-year suspension. The program is worth millions of dollars to the recycling industry which recovers coins left in end-of-life products turned over for scrap processing.
“The resumption of the U.S. Mint’s Mutilated Coin Program is a significant victory for the many recyclers that rely on the recovery of coins as part of their business,” said Robin Wiener, president of ISRI.”
Recycling facilities across the U.S. have been recovering coins from scrap for decades. The coins come from loose change left in cars or that has fallen between the seats, money left in vending machines and coin-operated laundry machines, and other sources. During shredding or other forms of processing the coins fall free or are purposefully recovered. As recycling technology has advanced the ability to accumulate coins in significant quantities has grown quickly, and is an integral part of many recycling companies’ operations and product lines.
Along with the resumption of the program, the U.S. Mint also announced a number of important revisions including the establishment of procedures for certifying participants based on submission amounts and frequency, sampling submissions to authenticate material, conducting site visits for certain participants, and requiring information about how the submissions came to be bent or partial.
Published in the February 2018 Edition