Smedema is the owner of the Food & Fun company from Beers near Leeuwarden, which includes: pizza ovens sells for the table. A few years ago, through a relationship in China, he bought a large batch of euro coins, which were extracted from incinerated waste.
Damaged Coins
He handed in some of the coins through coin machines at banks and G4S. “That concerned coins worth thousands of euros, on which I made a good margin,” the entrepreneur said by telephone from his holiday address.
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In the spring of 2018, he handed in more than a thousand coins that were refused by the sorting machines to De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB). The central bank reimburses subject to conditions damaged coins and bills.
DNB does not want to pay
However, after investigating the party, DNB announced that it would not reimburse Smedema’s coins. The Frisian entrepreneur then went to court, who, however, found him wrong at the end of 2019. Smedema did not leave it at that, and appealed to the Council of State.
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Yesterday the highest administrative judge also ruled that Smedema can whistle at the money. According to the Mintwet the central bank does not have to reimburse coins that have undergone processing that changes them.
Wear and Bumps
According to the bank, the coins returned through the waste incinerators and subsequent chemical cleaning showed wear, bumps and discoloration, making them ineligible for reimbursement. The Council of State gives DNB right.
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Smedema reacts disappointed from his holiday address. “This just isn’t right. What I’m fighting against is the statement that the coins change with the disposal and cleaning.”
Previously damaged
According to him, this is demonstrated by the fact that many other coins from the same batch were accepted by sorting machines. “I could just return three quarters to banks and G4S. That proves that the processing doesn’t change those coins. Maybe they were already damaged before they ended up in the waste.”
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According to Smedema, a lot of money is lost due to the refusal of De Nederlandsche Bank. “There are hundreds of millions of Europeans, all of whom accidentally throw away coins. Those coins are left behind in discarded bags or clothing, for example.” The entrepreneur thinks that it will soon be 150 million euros per year.
Trial Process
The pizza oven seller admits that the two lost lawsuits cost him more than he could have earned if he could have exchanged his thousand coins at DNB. That party would have been worth at most about 2000 euros. “But I saw this as a trial process. If I had won, I would have handed in 1000 kilos of coins tomorrow.”
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