Coins and tokens before devaluation – close-up – metal recovery

Defaced coins – close-up – material: metal

Coin destruction: Securely devalue coins and tokens and selectively recover metals

Crushing, devaluation and recycling of coin scrap using roller crushers or hammer mills

Coin destruction serves the secure and irreversible devaluation of circulating coins, rejects, tokens, or similar metal items. The goal is not only physical destruction but also the economic recovery of recyclable metal fractions. Depending on the material composition, ferromagnetic and non-ferromagnetic components are produced, which can be further separated after crushing and sent for recycling. In practice, robust crushing solutions such as roller crushers for controlled coarse crushing or hammer mills for higher reduction and larger throughput ranges have proven effective. The appropriate process depends primarily on the coin material, geometry, security requirements, and the desired target fraction.

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Benefits of coin destruction and metal recovery

The processing of coins and tokens serves the purpose of secure devaluation, volume reduction, and the recovery of metals of relevant grades. This is relevant for coins no longer fit for circulation, rejects, returns, devalued tokens, or metallic valuables that are to be reintroduced into the material cycle. Crucial factors are defined comminution, reproducible material discharge, and – in the case of subsequent separation – the cleanest possible division into ferromagnetic and non-ferromagnetic fractions. This process yields usable secondary raw materials from copper, steel, brass, aluminum, or multi-material fractions.

Material data for coins and tokens

Coin destruction involves not a single, uniform material, but rather a stream of different metals, alloys, and sometimes bimetallic components. Euro coins, depending on their denomination, consist of copper-plated steel, Nordic Gold, or bimetallic combinations. Tokens can additionally be made of brass, aluminum, steel, or special alloys. Therefore, the most relevant factors for processing are magnetic properties, hardness, ductility, multi-component composition, piece size, and the desired target fraction.

Property	Value
Use case	Coin destruction and token devaluation
Typical ingredients	Circulating coins, reject coins, tokens, metal tokens
Material properties	mixed metal stream
Typical Euro material groups	1/2/5 cent = copper-plated steel
Typical Euro material groups 2	10/20/50 cents = Nordic Gold
Typical Euro material groups 3	1 and 2 Euro coins = bimetallic multi-material coins
Possible token materials	Brass, aluminum, steel, special alloys
Magnetic behavior	Depending on the material, ferromagnetic, weakly magnetic or non-magnetic
Form	round or specially shaped embossing bodies
Process relevance	Irreversible destruction of the shape and good separability of the metal fractions
Recycling goal	Recovery of usable secondary raw materials
Peculiarity	Material mix and bimetallic structure influence comminution and separation.

Process description of coin destruction

The process begins with the secure handling of the material. Coins or tokens are then mechanically crushed to such an extent that their original shape is irreversibly destroyed. Depending on the objective, this stage can constitute the actual devaluation or merely the preliminary step for subsequent recycling. The material fractions are then classified and – if necessary – separated magnetically or by eddy current into iron/steel components and non-ferromagnetic metals. For high-quality mixed fractions, further sorting according to alloy or density may follow.

Process step	Objective	Typical machine / method	Typical result
Secured task	controlled feeding of the material	Feeding / Infeed	consistent material flow
Mechanical defacement	Irreversibly destroy the coin shape	roller crusher or hammer mill	devalued metal fragments
Classification optional	Stabilize fraction size	Sieving / Classification	defined grain bands
Magnetic separation	Separating ferromagnetic components	magnetic separator	Steel or iron-containing fraction
Non-ferrous separation	Separating non-ferromagnetic metals	Eddy current separator	Aluminum, copper, brass or mixed fraction
Optional re-sorting	achieving higher purity	Further sorting by density or sensory properties	higher-value sub-fractions
Provision for recycling	Making factions marketable	Container / Batch	recyclable secondary raw materials

Typical parameters in coin and token devaluation

The appropriate parameters depend on the coin type, material mix, security requirements, and desired fraction size. For the technical design, the feed size, target particle size, throughput, proportion of bimetallic or magnetic components, and whether only the coins are to be devalued or also separated into different materials are particularly relevant. For recycling lines, a uniform feed, controlled particle size, and clean separation of the metal fractions also play an important role.

Parameter	Typical value / note
Feed size roller crusher	to 70 mm
Final fineness roller crusher	<2 mm
Throughput roller crusher	approx. 300 kg/h
Task size Hammer mill	to 350 mm
Final fineness hammer mill	<1 mm
Throughput hammer mill	up to 2000 kg/h
Material flow	homogeneous batch or mixed coin/token fraction
Material mix	Steel, copper, brass, aluminum, bimetal
The purpose of the comminution	irreversible devaluation and good separability
Downstream separation	magnetic and/or eddy current useful
Important design factor	Safety requirement plus desired recycling fraction
Process goal	destroy, classify, sort, recover

Variants, comparison and selection criteria

Roller crusher or hammer mill

Roller crushers are suitable for controlled, relatively uniform crushing with a defined gap setting. Hammer mills are more appropriate when higher reduction, greater breaking up of the material, or larger throughput ranges are required.

Just devalue or also separate?

For purely security-related purposes, the irreversible destruction of the coin's shape is paramount. For recycling applications, processing into easily separable fractions is also important so that steel, copper, brass, or aluminum components can be recovered economically.

Single metal or multi-component fraction

Homogeneous batches of tokens or rejects are generally easier to process than mixed coin streams. Bimetallic euro coins and different alloys increase the demands on crushing, classification, and downstream separation steps.

Machine recommendation for coin destruction

For coin and token cancellation, roller crushers and hammer mills are the obvious primary machines. Roller crushers are particularly suitable when controlled comminution with a defined final fraction is required. Hammer mills are advantageous when more extensive material breakdown, higher reduction, or greater throughput is needed. If the material stream is subsequently separated, downstream magnetic separation is recommended for ferromagnetic components, and for non-ferromagnetic metals, eddy current separation or other sorting technology.

Machine:
More about roller crushers

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Machine:
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Technical questions regarding coin destruction

Use LITech AI for questions about coin destruction, token cancellation, metal separation, recovery of copper, steel and brass fractions, and the selection of roller crushers or hammer mills.

Frequently asked questions about coin destruction

Coin destruction is the irreversible mechanical devaluation of coins or tokens, so that their original form and usability are permanently eliminated.

A typical process is mechanical crushing using a roller crusher or hammer mill. Afterwards, the metal fractions can be further classified and separated.

Roller crushers are suitable for controlled crushing. Hammer mills are useful when higher reduction or larger throughput rates are required.

Depending on the type of coin, materials such as steel, copper, brass, aluminum, copper-nickel and other alloy fractions are considered.

Only by separating the materials into ferromagnetic and non-ferromagnetic fractions does the recycling value increase and the further marketing of the secondary raw materials become easier.

Euro coins consist of copper-coated steel, Nordic Gold or bimetallic combinations with copper-nickel and nickel-brass components, depending on their face value.

When a defined, controlled crushing with a uniform splitting effect is required, the roller crusher is often the first choice.

The hammer mill offers advantages when higher reduction, stronger digestion, or greater throughput is required.