The Mint does not release coins into circulation. The Mint has been striking 2011 coins for circulation since the beginning of January. The Mint ships the coins to a contractor who rolls the coins. The rolls of coins are then shipped to Federal Reserve Banks as they are ordered.
is there a web site i can go to where i can find out how many coins are made each year at each mint location?
Welcome to CT, it honestly depends on your location, we didn't see 2010 Coins circulating until mid-year here in Arizona. The problem is that banks have to order them from the Mint/Fed Reserve and there has been a surplus of Us coins for quite some time. You can expect to see a FLOOD of these coins within the next couple of months
I always thought coins were minted to fill Federal Reserve orders, then rolled and shipped. I wasn't aware that the Mint just made any amount of coins and stored them until they were ordered...live & learn (I guess).
That is not what I said. The Mint does not live in a vacuum. They are aware the need for new coins has dropped in recent years due to the economy and have adjusted their output accordingly. That is why in 2009 the production of nickels and dimes was stopped a few months into the year - the coins simply were not needed.
The Fed can't just sit and wait for the mint to strike up the coins that the Fed orders so the Mint does have a stockpile on hand to fill orders from. After they fill the order they strike more coins to replenish the stockpile.
Of course this does not apply to the "golden" dollars. These just get produced in numbers that well exceed the demand because legislation requires it. Just check out the mint's website and see all the Presidential dollars from previous years you can still direct ship if you don't believe me.
That makes sense...although, I don't know where they can put them. I image all the shelves are full of dollar coins as quartertapper suggests. They probably have a bunch of PODS out in the parking lot...
