Basic Coin Minting Questions

Typically minting begins in late November or December of the preceding year. Minting usually ends in mid to late December. The Fed orders coins from the Mint depending on what they have in their stockpiles. When banks need more coins they order them from the Fed and the Fed ships them out to the banks. They fill the banks orders with circulated coins first, then older MS coins, and then finally new MS coins. The Mint also keeps a stockpile of new coins on hand so the can fill Fed orders immediately rather than the Fed having to wait while they are struck. How many are ordered depends on the history of orders from the various areas of the country.

Generally, the coins from the Denver mint are sent to Federal reserve banks west of the mississippi river and Philadelphia mint coins east of the Mississippi river, but it is a rough and unwritten rule, based on supply and demand of the federal reserve banks on each side.
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