The answer has to do with a legislative requirement of the coin program that was intended to ensure an adequate supply for commerce. By law, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System must ensure that each design of the presidential $1 coin series released is available to financial institutions during an introductory period. To meet this requirement, the reserve banks are compelled to order new $1 coins from the Mint four times per year. The Mint diligently produces these. Quantities of the new $1 coins ordered by the Federal Reserve and not requested by financial institutions, as well as quantities that are ordered and then redeposited, continually add to the reserve banks’ inventory of $1 coins.
The legislation behind the separate Native American $1 Coin Program requires that these coins be produced in a quantity equal to at least 20 percent of all dollar coins for each year. Thus, production of this additional $1 coin series is based on the inflated demand for the other series.
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