Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

U.S. Mint freezes coin buybacks; China recyclers seek relief

"Very much in line with Wealthy Max's interest"

"Because of the possibility of unlawful activity" in the federal Coin Exchange program, which buys worn old coins from recyclers and hoarders and melts them into new coins, "the United States Mint is suspending its redemption of bent and partial coins for a period of six months to assess the security of the program," Richard A. Peterson, director for manufacturing and qulaity at the U.S. Mint, said here in the Federal Register on Oct. 29. 

That was a week after I reported some of the China-based companies that had been among the busiest sellers of recycled coins to the U.S. government filed a lawsuit to get back "$5.5 million in cash, a Porsche Cayman Coupe, and a Texas warehouse" seized by Homeland Security agents last winter.

In justifing the seizure, Homeland Security officials said they were skeptical the high volume of coins sold by China-based recyclers, and suspected many were fakes. Geyer insists the companies collect and hand-sort whole container-loads of coins from junked U.S. cars and appliances that end up in south China scrapyards for recycling, and that Wealthy Max's "time-tested quality assurance system" has worked smoothly since it sold its first loads to the Mint in 2002.