To and From the Mint

I recently read that the US Mint produced 900 million coins in June. That works out to an average of 30 Million coins /day; 1.25 Million/ hour; or more than 20,800 coins / min.

I don't believe that any of Mint's production facilities are located near their source of raw materials. The United States Mint operates six facilities across the United States with each facility performing unique functions. Current facilities are located in: Washington, DC; Philadelphia, PA; West Point, NY; Fort Knox, KY; Denver, CO; and San Francisco, CA.

This all means that a vast amount of raw material needs to be brought into, processed by the Mint, and transported to the Federal Reserve for storage and distribution each day.

How is all of this valuable cargo moved around the county? I don't recall ever seeing an 18 wheel truck on the interstate that appeared to be carrying money, but if the six Mint facilities each did their fair share then 5 million coins / day on average needs to be moved. They don't do that in one or two or even three armoured cars.

I also don't recall ever hearing about a traffic accident involving a truck full of money from the Treasury. There are also lots of banks in remote locations across this hugh country that need to be accessed.

How does the Treasury bring in all the raw material (gold and silver) and then transport all the finished goods so that no one notices or robs them?

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

The Mint has not used gold or silver in coins for general circulation since 1933 and 1970 respectively. Copper thieves are known to steal copper from vacant houses but I have not heard of big rigs being held up for their copper-nickel cargo.

 

I believe that the Mint has produced nearly 24 Million American Silver Eagles thru August 2010 plus many American Gold Eagles. These coins are made from nearly pure Silver and Gold. There are also many commemorative coins and medals that contain PM that the Mint produces each year.

 

The Mint acquires gold and silver blanks for bullion products from suppliers of blanks. (see quote below) These "raw" materials are not handled by the Mint. It doesn't go from mine to mint to coin to you.

Modern Marvels: Money, The History Channel -- [YouTube video links below]

Money Part 1/5 Blanks discussed at 6:29 minute marker
Money Part 2/5
Money Part 3/5
Money Part 4/5
Money Part 5/5

​

 

I believe all coins minted are from blank manufacturers, not just the PM's. As for distribution, I have heard of coin spills frequently. However, the mint delivers to the Federal Reserve who is in charge of distribution to member bank of both coins and bills.

 

Ok, but the blanks are nearly pure gold or silver. Don't these gold and silver blanks need to be brought to the mint and processed into coins? I believe that the Mint has been producing on average nearly 3 million ASE coins each month, 100,000 per day or 200 monster Green Boxes per day. That's over 4 tons of silver a day, and I believe that production is all from only the West Point mint.

That's a lot of silver in and out of that facility.

 

I don't see your point. Are you just amazed at the volume of the operation?

 

See the first video link above.

There are also some threads here about the coin spills that have happened in the last year to few years ago. I'll try to dig up a thread...

Here you go: Don't you wish you had been there?

​

 

Ok, so the coins need to be moved to the Federal reserve Banks and here is a list of the Federal Reserve Banks are located:

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
20th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20551
(202) 452-3000

Federal Reserve Banks
Boston
600 Atlantic Avenue
Boston, MA 02205
(617) 973-3000

New York
33 Liberty Street
New York, NY 10045
(212) 720-5000

Philadelphia
Ten Independence Mall
Philadelphia, PA 19106
(215) 574-6000

Cleveland
1455 East Sixth Street
Cleveland, OH 44114
(216) 579-2000

Richmond
701 East Byrd Street
Richmond, VA 23219
(804) 697-8000

Atlanta
1000 Peachtree Street NE
Atlanta, GA 30309
(404) 498-8500

Chicago
230 South LaSalle Street
Chicago, IL 60604
(312) 322-5322

St. Louis
One Federal Reserve Bank Plaza
Broadway and Locust Streets
St. Louis, MO 63102
(314) 444-8444
mailing information

Minneapolis
90 Hennepin Avenue
Minneapolis, MN 55401
(612) 204-5000

Kansas City
1 Memorial Drive
Kansas City, MO 64198
(816) 881-2000

Dallas
2200 North Pearl Street
Dallas, TX 75201
(214) 922-6000

San Francisco
101 Market Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
(415) 974-2000

 

Are you wondering about the security protocols for the movement of the PM? I can tell you they are by unmarked truck, gps tracked, with chase vehicles assigned to each load, sometimes more than one. I know this from my cousin who used to haul some of them, as well as haul pallets of saffron. There are other protocols as well but these are just basic ones that are public knowledge.

 

Remember, the mint has been doing this a lot longer than any of us have been alive. The Secret Service is involved, as is the FBI for establishing movement protocols and I am sure any possibility has been thought of.

One interesting note is that when the bullion was moved from NY to Ft. Knox it was mailed. The US mail service was determined to have the highest level of security so the bullion was mailed to Ft Knox with postal inspectors accompanying the train along the route.

 

from the US Mint: How Coins Are Made

 

Was it always this way? I thought I remembered a scandal where some blanks entered the marketplace and it was found out it was from the manufacturer of them, not the mint.

 

I don't recall ever seeing a Treasury truck on the road. I'm curious how the Treasury securely moves such vast quantities of money without drawing attention to the security that must be in place. I also do not recall a Treasury truck full of money ever being robbed. generally a truck would be easier to rob than a bank, and with the volumes of money being moved how has the Treasury avoided being robbed. Many of the Federal Reserve Banks are are a long way from the Mint.

haven't any of you wondered how all that money is securly moved?

 

USPS Registered Mail via train.

from Postal Inspectors.uspis.gov -- History

 

Movement is as noted above my medoraman, under guard and unmarked (in secret).

No, I don't need to wonder about it, it's fairly obvious, if you think about it and know even slightly how such things may be handled.

 

from Overview of Accounting Treatment of U.S. Gold (2004) [Google doc / PDF]

 

I'd imagine it's done at nite when nobody's looking.......

 

I'm surprised you've never see one of these. They're all over the place!

 

Inefficiencies Cited in US Mint’s Bullion Coin Programs from CoinUpdate.com [7/21/2010]