Originally Posted by
jamesteroh
I am guessing it means that the coins the fed doesn't send out to banks is used for this program.
None of us know for sure, but I don't think this is the case.
I think the Mint guy meant that the coins not ordered by the Fed are "leftovers" and are sold to the public.
The mint intends to make enough circulating coins so that all are sold to the Fed. A few uncirculated proof coins are sold by the minto to collectors at a profit.
This is why the direct ship program doesn't include quarters and nickels. All of those are purchased by the Fed.
The mint was ordered by Congress to produce a certain number of dollar coins, including a specified number of Native Americans. The Fed did not order nearly as many dollar coins as the mint was ordered to produce, so the mint began this direct ship program, primarily to improve its financial results. The flyertalkers and fatwallet folk have loved to program and it appears to have been quite successful for the mint and for us.
Unfortunately, it seems that the mint's oversupply of dollar coins isn't as large as it once was, so they have little desire to ship out large quantities of coins to businesses. That is just my guess.