YOKOHAMA--The Yokohama District Public Prosecutors Office intends to melt down for reuse as industrial materials South Korean coins used illegally in vending machines, according to sources.

Until now, employees at the prosecutors office made the coins unusable, but the number of won coins sent to the office reached about 120,000 last year as the statute of limitations for the crimes, which peaked in 1999, expired. The office became unable to dispose of the coins manually, so came up with the idea of melting them down.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20070107TDY03005.htm

850 kilograms of raw materials! Insane!