After years of review, the U.S. Mint has developed regulations it plans to implement to protect the integrity of its Mutilated Coin Redemption program against potential fraud.

The Mint plans to handle the redemption of bent and partial United States coins at the Philadelphia Mint, and not direct the coins to contracted authorized metal recyclers as it did in the past.

In 2015, the Mint suspended the program to assess the security of the program and develop additional safeguards to enhance the integrity of the acceptance and processing of mutilated coinage. The assessment was an ongoing process, with additional safeguards being considered.

During that suspension period, the Mint filed a civil complaint alleging irregularities in the program and seeking forfeiture of millions of dollars in mutilated coins submitted by overseas vendors for redemption. The program remained suspended for nearly two years, with the U.S. Mint planning to resume activity before the end of 2017. The program was finally resumed Jan. 23, 2018.

Proposed revisions would provide notice that the Mint will establish weight and shipment limits for a maximum of 1,000 pounds of coins per month per participant.

The Philadelphia Mint has the necessary equipment and personnel now to process such shipments in-house. The U.S. Mint plans to prohibit redemption of purported U.S. coins shipped from outside of the United States. The U.S. Mint learned of counterfeits being included in a number of previous shipments. Rejected shipments could be returned to the submitter or turned over to law enforcement.

The proposed regulation changes were posted May 5 on Federal Register at www.federalregister.gov.

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