Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System 

________________________________________________________________________ 

Annual Report to the Congress on the 

Presidential $1 Coin Program 

June 2010
2010 Annual Report to the Congress on the Presidential $1 Coin Program 

Background

Pursuant to section 104 of the Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005 (Public 

Law 109-145), the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System is required to 

assess and submit an annual report to the Congress on the remaining obstacles to the 

efficient and timely circulation of $1 coins; to assess the extent to which the goals of 

consultations with industry representatives, the vending industry, and other coinaccepting organizations are being met; and to provide such recommendations for 

legislative action as the Board may determine to be appropriate. 

Recent Activities and Feedback from Depository Institutions

Since our 2009 annual report, the Federal Reserve Banks (the Reserve 

Banks) distributed nearly 300 million James Polk, Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore, and 

Franklin Pierce Presidential $1 Coins, satisfying depository institution demand.1

 To 

facilitate this successful distribution, the Federal Reserve continued to refine the 

Presidential $1 Coin Program based on stakeholder input and experiences with previous 

Presidential $1 Coin releases. The Federal Reserve held meetings with the depository 

institutions with the largest cash volumes and with community bankers, as well as with 

armored carrier representatives, to gather feedback about demand and potential obstacles 

to the circulation of $1 coins.2

At these meetings, industry representatives indicated that the Presidential 

$1 Coin Program had worked very well, that the coins were easy to order, and that our 

communication about program dates and changes was effective. Participants indicated 

that transactional demand for $1 coins has not increased since the start of the program 

and that overall demand continues to come primarily from collectors. Most meeting 

participants did not believe that demand would increase significantly for future coin 

releases, with the possible exception of the coins commemorating the most popular 

former Presidents. 

In the 2009 annual report, we reported that some depository institutions 

suggested that we lengthen the current pre-release staging period (during which banks 

can order and receive the coins but cannot release them to the public) from two weeks to 

three, to allow more remotely located branches to have the coins on hand by the public 

release date. Depository institutions also indicated that shortening the post-release 

introductory period from four weeks to two would provide sufficient time to meet their 

customer demand. In response, we implemented a new special ordering period in the first 

 

1

 The 2009 Annual Report to the Congress on the Presidential $1 Coin Program can be found at 

http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/RptCongress/dollarcoin/2009/dollarcoin09.htm. 2

 Beginning in 2008, the Federal Reserve and the United States Mint agreed to meet with their respective 

coin user groups through our normal channels each year of the program and share feedback as appropriate. 
2 

quarter of 2010, beginning with the Millard Fillmore Presidential $1 Coin release in 

February.3 (See figure 1 below for diagrams of the previous and current special ordering 

periods.) 

Figure 1

Previous Special Ordering Period 

(through the Zachary Taylor Presidential $1 Coin) 

 

Public Release 

Date 

 

Four-week introductory period

Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 6

Two-week pre-release 

staging period

Week 5

Current Special Ordering Period 

(beginning with the Millard Fillmore Presidential $1 Coin) 

 

Public Release 

Date

 

Two-week 

introductory period

Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4

Three-week pre-release 

staging period

Week 5

Since the change, depository institutions have indicated that the new 

ordering period has improved the ability of their remotely located branches to order and 

receive coins by the release date, while accommodating their customers’ ordering 

patterns. As reflected in table 1 below, depository institutions have generally placed 

more than 80 percent of the total orders for each new release during the first three weeks 

of the special ordering period. The new ordering period accommodates these orders 

before the official release date. 

 

3

 The “special ordering period” consists of the both the “pre-release staging period” before the United 

States Mint’s public release date (when depository institutions can order the coins from the Reserve Banks 

but cannot provide them to the public) and the “introductory period” after the release date (when depository 

institutions can provide the coins to the public and can continue ordering from the Reserve Banks). 
3 

Table 1 

Depository Institution Ordering Patterns 

Presidential

$1 Coin

Depository 

Institution

Orders

($ Millions)

Depository Institution Orders

within First Three Weeks

of Order Period

($ Millions)

% of Total

George Washington 212 155 73

John Adams 158 132 84

Thomas Jefferson 126 110 87

John Madison 108 93 86

James Monroe 106 84 79

John Q. Adams 96 83 86

Andrew Jackson 94 81 84

Martin Van Buren 93 80 86

William H. Harrison 87 77 88

John Tyler 82 72 88

James Polk 76 65 86

Zachary Taylor 71 62 87

Millard Fillmore 71 58 82

Franklin Pierce 68 58 85

Depository Institution Demand Continues to Decrease

The Federal Reserve’s experience with circulating commemorative coins 

other than $1 coins has differed significantly from our experience with $1 coins. In the 

early years of the 50 State Quarters program, in an effort to support the legislation, the 

Reserve Banks ordered more quarters than were necessary to meet demand and filled 

many depository institution orders with new coins rather than with available inventories 

of circulated quarters.4 The residual coins from each release, plus the excess quarters 

redeposited by depository institutions, created excessive inventories at the Reserve 

Banks. The Reserve Banks were able to reduce those inventories over time, however, 

because of significant, regular transactional demand for quarters.5

 

For previous $1 coin programs, the Reserve Banks encountered large 

excess inventories for much longer periods because demand was very low. The 

Presidential $1 Coin Program experience is consistent with those other $1 coin programs. 

Dollar coin payments to circulation increased significantly in the first year of the program 

but have consistently declined since that time, while receipts from circulation have 

 

4

 After the initial years of the 50 State Quarters Program, the Reserve Banks began to move to more 

centralized management of coin ordering and distribution, which resulted in improved forecasts of coin 

demand. In 2008, the Reserve Banks fully centralized coin management at the National Cash Product 

Office, located at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. 5

 Because of lower payments of quarters to circulation during the financial crisis, Reserve Banks’ quarter 

inventories increased significantly in 2008 and 2009; however, the Reserve Banks expect to work down 

those inventories as demand improves. 
4 

significantly increased. We have no reason to expect demand to improve. We also note 

that a 2008 Harris poll found that more than three-fourths of people questioned continue 

to prefer the $1 note.6 

The Reserve Banks have studied detailed payment and inventory data for 

previous Presidential $1 Coin releases at the Reserve Bank offices and off-site coin 

terminals, supplemented these data with feedback from depository institutions about 

expected demand, and developed better forecasts for each successive release. The 

Reserve Banks have then actively managed inventories throughout the special ordering 

period for each coin, relocating coins around the country, as necessary, to meet demand. 

As figure 2 indicates, however, depository institution demand has continued to decrease. 

Figure 2 

303

200

168

142

114 105 96 99 96 85 82 75 72 72

212

158

126

108 106 96 94 93 87 82 76 71 71 68

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

(in millions) 

Presidential $1 Coin

Reserve Bank Orders from the Mint and Payments to Circulation

(during special six-week ordering periods)

Mint orders

Payments to 

circulation

Significant Growth of $1 Coin Inventories

Because we have not seen an increase in demand, the Federal Reserve 

Banks’ $1 coin inventories have increased significantly over time, even though improved 

forecasting and ordering practices have reduced the number of residual coins at the end of 

each new release period. The Reserve Banks hold the residual coins as inventory at their 

offices and off-site coin terminals. Additionally and more significantly, depository 

institutions have re-deposited a significant number of excess $1 coins with the Reserve 

Banks. 

As shown in figure 3 and table 2, previous $1 coin supplies, plus the 

excess $1 coins returned by depository institutions, elevated total Reserve Bank 

 

6

 http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1435329120080414 
5 

inventories of all $1 coins to almost $1 billion as of May 31, 2010, or about $932 million 

more than the Reserve Banks held before the start of the Program. Based on historical 

Presidential $1 Coin payments and receipts and current inventory growth trends, the 

Federal Reserve estimates that it could hold more than $2 billion in $1 coins by the time 

the program is expected to end. Because of vault storage constraints and insurance 

limitations at coin terminals, the Reserve Banks have been forced to spend resources in 

the past nine months to expand storage capacity to hold the excess $1 coins, with no 

perceivable benefit to the taxpayer. We expect that the Reserve Banks will need to 

continue to seek additional storage options to store the expected flowback of additional 

$1 coins through the end of the program. 

Figure 3 

‐

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1,000

1,100

1st

Quarter

2nd

Quarter

3rd

Quarter

4th

Quarter

1st

Quarter

2nd

Quarter

3rd

Quarter

4th

Quarter

1st

Quarter

2nd

Quarter

3rd

Quarter

4th

Quarter

1st

Quarter

2nd

Quarter

2007 2008 2009 2010

Millions of pieces

Quarterly$1 Coin Inventories, Receipts, Payments, & Mint Orders

Mint Orders Receiptsfrom Circulation RB Paymentsto Circulation RB Inventories

Note: the United States Mint has indicated that it paid to circulation $88 million Native American $1 coins 

through its Direct Ship program in 2009 and $23 million in 2010 (as of June 17). The Mint also indicated 

that it has paid to circulation a total of $57 million Presidential $1 Coins via direct shipments since the start 

of the Presidential $1 Coin Program (as of June 17, 2010). These data are not included in the above 

Reserve Bank payments to circulation. 
6 

Table 2 

Quarterly $1 Coin Inventories, Mint Orders, Receipts, & Payments 

($ millions)

QUARTER

1

BEGINNING

RB

INVENTORY

2

MINT 

ORDERS

3 

RECEIPTS 

FROM 

CIRCULATION

4 

RB PAYMENTS 

TO

CIRCULATION

5 

ENDING RB

INVENTORY

1+2+3-4

Q1/2007 67 301 47 250 165 

Q2/2007 165 201 69 223 212 

Q3/2007 212 171 87 178 292 

Q4/2007 292 144 85 153 368 

Q1/2008 368 119 87 153 421 

Q2/2008 421 109 82 137 475 

Q3/2008 475 96 93 138 526 

Q4/2008 526 104 88 138 580 

Q1/2009 580 96 92 119 649 

Q2/2009 649 87 88 122 702 

Q3/2009 702 85 118 117 788 

Q4/2009 788 77 123 110 878 

Q1/2010 878 89 108 120 954 

Q2/2010 (as of May) 954 72 60 87 999 

Note: the payments to circulation do not include the $1 coins that the United States Mint has issued directly 

into circulation. See note to figure 3. 

Commemorative Circulating Coin Processes in Other Countries

To gain a broader perspective on the management of commemorative 

circulating coin programs, we explored the experiences of other countries. We found that 

other major industrial countries have implemented very different processes from the 

United States for issuing commemorative circulating coins. For example, the Eurosystem 

countries have regulations specifying that all commemorative circulating coins should be 

concentrated on the 2-euro coins. Eurosystem countries have also limited the quantities 

of these coins that these countries may issue.7 Other countries, such as Canada, limit the 

issuance periods and continue to issue the traditional design simultaneously with the 

commemorative circulating coins. Some central banks (for example, the Bank of 

England and the Bank of Canada) are not involved in the distribution of commemorative 

circulating coins or do not accept the return of coins from depository institutions. These 

types of restrictions serve to minimize the number of excess coins produced by the mint 

or held by the central bank. 

 

7

 The Eurosystem countries’ regulations specify that quantities are limited to the higher of the following: 

0.1 percent of the total 2-euro coins in circulation, or 5 percent of the total of 2-euro coins from the issuing 

country. 
7 

Native American $1 Coin Requirement

Our first annual report to the Congress on the Presidential $1 Coin 

Program included a recommendation for legislative action regarding the “Sacagawea 

design” $1 coin provision in the Act.8

 The Congress later reduced the Sacagawea 

production requirement in the Presidential $1 Coin Act with the enactment of the Native 

American $1 Coin Act (Public Law 110-82). The revised Presidential $1 Coin Act, 

however, retains a quantitative requirement for the volume of Native American $1 Coins 

that the Secretary of the Treasury shall mint and issue. The Reserve Banks’ depository 

institution customers, however, have indicated that they have experienced very little or no 

demand for Native American $1 Coins.9

 Given the lack of evidence to date that the 

Presidential $1 Coin Program will stimulate demand for $1 coins as a broad-based 

transactional medium, the requirement that a specified minimum number of coins be 

minted and issued without regard to actual public demand will continue to result in 

production and storage costs to the taxpayer without any offsetting benefits. 

 

8

 http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/RptCongress/dollarcoin/dollarcoin.htm 9

 Because of the lack of significant demand from Reserve Banks’ depository institution customers for 

Native American $1 Coins and the Reserve Banks’ high inventories of $1 coins, the Reserve Banks are not 

ordering Native American $1 Coins from the United States Mint. As indicated in the footnote to figure 3, 

the Mint is issuing these coins directly to the public. The coins end up at the Federal Reserve, however, as 

the public deposits them with their depository institutions, which then deposit them with their Reserve 

Banks.