How Do New Circulation Coins Get To The Public From The Mint

to CCF

If you are right "Hesgut" and this does seem like a proper chain of custody, it seems that I should be able to go into a bank and receive the same roll of new coins that the retailers get. Yet at a number of banks which I have tried to acquire a roll of new coins, the tellers do not appear to know what I am talking about. What am I missing here? I would assume that the banks distribute these coins to the retailers for change as you suggest.

Well, bank tellers, first off, might just be idiots, and are usually not collectors.

The shipments of "new" cents usually come in on a certain day at the beginning of each month. Other than that, they get circulated coins sent to them.

Try your local Royal Bank branch, They are the Mints Circulation distribution outlet.

In my introduction to this forum I indicated that it has been some time since I have spent so much time with my collection. I was always under the belief that the banks received their coinage directly from the mint.
I see in this discussion that now we have a third party involved, distribution centres (coin pools), who it looks like to me are actually an intermediate between the mint and the banks.
Does anyone know who these might be and can the general public buy coinage from them?
Really just trying to get an understanding as to the chain of custody for coins which come from the mint into circulation.
Also do some banks have easier access to these coin pools than others, as was suggested that RBC is a mint distribution outlet. My bank does not seem to know how to get or even if they do get new coinage in rolls.
Although I did see a store merchant today break open a new roll of magnetic 2011 pennies. I only new this after I got home and checked out the four that I received in change.
Maybe this is all clear to dedicated coin collectors but comming back into the hobby after a long absence I find it somewhat a mystery.

The Mint produces coins according to a predicted demand for them. This explains why the mintage numbers can vary from year to year. The cost to the Mint for doing this is the total of their operating costs and metal costs.

They are kept by the Mint until a request is received from a commercial bank to buy them at their nominal face value. The difference between the Mint's total costs and their sales at nominal face value, is the seigniorage, or profit for the Mint.

The commercial banks will only issue a buy order on the Mint when there is a commercial need for coin, which cannot be supplied fully by incoming coins during the bank's normal commercial operations. The total volume of coinage in circulation can vary from month to month.

Perhaps 5% of the total coin production is lost, and maybe more than 5% on top of that, is hoarded, at least temporarily.

In addition to this, worn coins are recycled for re manufacture. In this case the Mint is obliged to buy worn coin from the commercial banks at nominal face value. Obviously, it pays both the commercial banks and the Mint if the coins are very durable.
This is the reason why high value coins are issued rather than equivalent low value notes, which have a circulating life of perhaps only 5% of that of a coin.

A base metal Dollar which may cost 30 cent to produce and distribute, is much than the cost 20 x 1 Dollar notes, at 7 cents each, to produce and distribute.

Thank you sel_691 for that explaination.

It all makes sense now as to why some banks have new currency and others not.

Carrying on with this then I have another question with regards to how monies get circulated about.

New mintage coins come from the mint but who distributes circulating coins?

This one is with regards to existing circulating coins. When one walks into the bank and requests a box or two of coins, where now do these coins come from?

I can understand a few rolls as the banks have that much constantly moving in and out of the bank but most banks that I have asked about, with regards to boxes, state that they have to order them in. Where exactly do they order from?

Most banks have a main branch or head office somewhere. They communicate among the branches and with the main branch and re supply each other from their own excess stock (if they have any). If not, an order for new coin would have to be placed with the Mint by the head office of the commercial bank.

This explains why you may get rolls of new coin or rolls of re supplied already circulating coin. The only way of increasing your possibility of getting rolls of new coin over the counter is if you specifically ask for them. I guess the wrappers would identify those. They would then supply to you if they want to be cooperative, and IF they have new coin available.

It pays to be nice to the bank teller.

Most Australian commercial bank branches would NOT be cooperative with roll searchers.

I have a few rolls of new coin, wrapped by the Mint and supplied to me by the Reserve Bank of Australia. These were obtained way back in 1972. The R.B.A. has only have one branch in each of the capital cities in Australia. Until very recently, the Royal Australian Mint only supplied new coin in bag form in bulk, to the the Reserve Bank of Australia. That is why newly minted Australian coinage is so badly 'bag marked' unless you buy collector 'uncirculated' products directly from the R.A.M., or from coin dealers or over the counter through the Australian Post Office system.

The Australian collector is perhaps more fortunate than most, because N.C.L.T. Mint products can be bought from the Australian Post Office. There are Post Offices in just about every large shopping centre.

The R.A.M. has only recently sold specially wrapped rolls again, specifically for the collector. These are not for commercial distribution to the commercial banking system.