2008 Annual Report to the Congress on the Presidential $1 Coin Program

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 a 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 coin-accepting organizations are being met; and to provide such recommendations for legislative action the Board may determine to be appropriate. Since our 2007 annual reports, the Federal Reserve Banks (the Reserve Banks) distributed more than 400 million Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, and John Quincy Adams Presidential $1 coins satisfying depository institution demand. To enable this successful distribution, the Federal Reserve worked with the United States Mint to refine the Presidential $1 Coin Program based on stakeholder input and experiences with the George Washington and John Adams Presidential $1 Coin releases. In July 2007, the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Mint co-hosted a coins users group forum to discuss distributional, operational, and outreach issues and challenges related to $1 coins. Forum participants included depository institutions, retail merchants, transit associations, federal entities, vending and coin equipment manufacturers, and armored carrier companies. The Federal Reserve also held additional meetings with depository institution and armored carrier representatives. We used the feedback from the stakeholder forum and meetings, as well as the lessons learned regarding demand trends from the first coin releases, to refine orders from the United States Mint and improve distribution processes, while continuing to make the coins widely available and in packaging useful for commerce.