After production, the Treasury ships the coins and currency notes directly to Federal Reserve banks and branches. The Federal Reserve then releases them as required by the commercial banking system. The demand for money by the public varies from day to day and from week to week. There are even differences from season to season.
Banks are usually first to feel the impact of the public's demand for cash.
To meet the needs of the public, banks turn to their regional Federal Reserve bank for coins and currency when their supplies are low. Both bureaus must produce coins and currency in quantities sufficient to fill the needs of the public. To assure smooth and sufficient flow of coins, the United States Mint continually revises its techniques for estimating coinage demands. In planning production and scheduling coin shipments, the United States Mint uses long-range economic indicators and historic seasonal trends such as Christmas to decide how many coins to manufacture. Experience has shown that forecasting coin demand cannot be done with absolute accuracy.