Holding Rooms

In the rear of the Mint you will find three holding areas. The first is a very large open storage area that is used to store tubs of coins waiting to be used in the bagging area. Next to this holding area is another area that is protecting by a security fence.

If you have ever watched NYPD Blue or Nash Bridges, you have seen the holding cell they place people in while the police do their paper work. This holding area looks exactly the same, but a lot larger. Heavy duty pallets filled with bags and blue tubs are placed in here to fill orders placed by the Federal Reserve Banks. Trucks arrive at a loading area completely inside the Mint. Fork lifts go into this secure room and deliver the pallets and tubs to the trucks.

There are several other enclosed storage areas, these storage areas look like a large closet with a very big door. Only bagged coins on pallets are stored in these rooms. If coins have been bagged and are not needed, they are placed in these rooms until needed.

I asked how many bags could be placed in each of these storage rooms, but was informed that information is not available. In short...none of my business.

Federal Reserve Delivery System

The Federal Reserve Act was passed by Congress in 1913, establishing the Federal Reserve as an independent central bank. The Federal Reserve system is made up of 12 Federal Reserve Districts throughout the United States. They are located in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Richmond, Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Kansas City , Dallas, and San Francisco. Additionally, there are Branches of Reserve Banks in 25 other cities.

The Federal Reserve is charged with ensuring that enough currency and coin are in circulation to meet the publics demand. New coins are shipped from the Philadelphia and Denver Mints to Federal Reserve Banks and Branches across the United States where the money is stored. When additional coins are needed, the Federal Reserve fills orders placed by local banks or bank delivery companies.

Banks have reserve funds on deposit at the Federal Reserve. As orders for additional currency and coins are received, these funds are reduced by the amount of the order.

When the same denomination of coinage is produced at both mints, the Denver Mint will supply coins for the Federal Reserve Banks closest to them. While the Philadelphia Mint will supply coinage on the other side of the country.

If there is a shortage of cents in the eastern states, coins will be shipped from the Denver Mint to help supply the demand. Also, if a coin is only struck in the Philadelphia Mint, coins will be shipped to all the Federal Reserve Banks from the Philadelphia Mint.

Until recently, the general public could not order coinage directly from the Mints. The Susan B. Anthony dollar was the first coin offered in mini bags. When the new State quarters were introduced, bags of coins where sold to the public by the Mint. Bags could be ordered over the Internet, by phone or by mail. In 2000 with the introduction of the new golden dollar, the Mint sold rolls of dollars with a special wrapper. These coins were actually delivery to a company for rolling by a Federal Reserve Bank and then sent back to the Mint to be sold to the public.

I mentioned that I would reveal the secret of the numbers and letters on mint bags of coins. First, let’s cover what the numbers and letters where thought to represent. Some believed that the code was for orders placed by Federal Reserve Banks. Each order had its own number. If a Federal Reserve Bank ordered cents, dimes and quarters, each bag for that order would be marked with the same number.

Some believed that they are pallet numbers. That as orders where filled for a Federal Reserve Bank, each order was assigned a pallet number.

None of this is true. But do I release my little secret to the ILNA members or not.

The first letter you will find stamped on a bag is either a P or D. This stands for the mint that produced the coins. P for Philadelphia and D for Denver. It also represents the mintmark on the coins inside the bags.

Next will be two or three numbers. These numbers are mint employee numbers. When a new employee hires on at the mint, they are given an employee number. This number is used for quality control. If the bags are not sewn properly, the managers know which employ was responsibly.

Next in the code will be three letters and 6 numbers. The three letters represent the month the coins where bagged. The next two numbers represents the day the coins where bagged and the last four numbers represent the year the coins where minted.

Now for a little clarification. Notice I said the date the coins where bagged and not the date the coins where minted. If the bagging operation is down for repairs, the production department continues producing coins. These coin may then be taken to the holding room for storage until the bagging operation is back on line. With this point made, the coins may be bagged the same day they are made and they may not. Thus we say the date represents the date the coins where bagged.

I you find a mint bag with the code: D114APR092000. The code means the bag was filled at the Denver Mint and the employee that filled the bag is employee number 114. The date the bag was filled was April 9, 2000.

We hope you have enjoyed this series of articles on my tour of the Philadelphia Mint.

Have a question, need an answer, drop me a line. Frank M. Zapushek PO Box 1993, Bloomington, IL. 61702.     mrz@bakercoins.net     Your question might be my next article. No charge for authentication or questions.