The United States Mint published coin production figures for June that soar past prior months, capping four straight monthly gains.
If coin production reflects the U.S. economic landscape as it seems to have in the past, it would suggest mounting improvement. The Mint’s coinage output in June was more than four times that of January, and 1.4 times more than its May’s run.
With six months of 2010 now in the history books, nearly 2.83 billion coins have been struck. In contrast, 3.548 billion were minted in all of 2009, suggesting 2010 could top last year’s production in a few short weeks. Still, levels would have to greatly increase to match the just over 10.14 billion coins produced in 2008.
As the following table illustrates, the only coins not pressed were Kennedy Half Dollars. Those have been silent since January.
Circulating Coins Produced in June 2010
| Denver | Philadelphia | Total | |
| 2010 Lincoln Cents | 296,000,000 | 289,200,000 | 585,200,000 |
| 2010 Jefferson Nickels | 36,240,000 | 46,800,000 | 83,040,000 |
| 2010 Roosevelt Dimes | 82,000,000 | 64,500,000 | 146,500,000 |
| 2010 Quarters | 24,600,000 | 29,200,000 | 53,800,000 |
| 2010 Kennedy Half Dollars | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2010 Native American $1 | 1,400,000 | 0 | 1,400,000 |
| 2010 Presidential $1s | 24,500,000 | 24,500,000 | 49,000,000 |
| Total | 464,740,000 | 454,200,000 | 918,940,000 |
June was the busiest month in well over a year for the Mint with 918.94 million coins manufactured for circulation. And the monthly leap was the biggest of the year, following a surging May. In looking at it another way, for every coin that was minted in February — the slowest 2010 month, 4.7 coins were struck in June.
2010 Monthly Mintages Totals
| January | February | March | April | May | June |
| 218.41 M | 194.40 M | 384.42 M | 451.96 M | 657.22 M | 918.94 M |
2010 Lincoln cents continue to win the monthly mintage title. A whopping 585.2 million were made in June alone, which is one-fourth of the entire supply of 2009 cents.
2010 Roosevelt dimes came in second with a monthly run of 146.5 million, which is exactly 500,000 more than May’s level. Only 146 million were struck in all of 2009.
2010 Jefferson nickels ranked third with just over 83 million produced in June, which is nearly the amount of the entire 2009 nickel mintage (86.64 million). And for the first time since July 2009, 2010-D nickels were pressed to the tune of 36.24 million.
America the Beautiful Quarters™ earned the fourth position, rising 53.8 million in June as compared to the 46 million increase in May. Yellowstone National Park Quarters mintages are now available. They are higher than the first 2010 issue. Hot Springs quarters remain scarcest over the decades, but Yellowstone quarter-dollars are right behind. The second coin in the series has a preliminary combined mintage of 68.4 million. 34.8 million are from Denver while 33.6 million orginate from Philadelphia.
There has been 177.2 million 2010-dated quarters struck this year, with 88.4 million from Denver and 88.8 million from Philadelphia. Subtracting the first to quarters out leaves 49.2 million remaining, which will be a portion of the Yosemite National Park Quarters set to launch into circulation on July 26, 2010.
2010 Year-to-Date Coin Production by Design
| Denver | Philadelphia | 2010 Total | |
| Lincoln Cents | 911,600,000 | 939,630,000 | 1,851,230,000 |
| Jefferson Nickels | 36,240,000 | 76,080,000 | 112,320,000 |
| Roosevelt Dimes | 186,500,000 | 219,500,000 | 406,000,000 |
| Hot Springs National Park Quarters | 29,000,000 | 30,600,000 | 59,600,000 |
| Yellowstone National Park Quarters | 34,800,000 | 33,600,000 | 68,400,000 |
| Kennedy Half Dollars | 1,700,000 | 1,800,000 | 3,500,000 |
| 2010 Native American $1 | 42,980,000 | 32,060,000 | 75,040,000 |
| Fillmore Presidential $1 | 36,960,000 | 37,520,000 | 74,480,000 |
| Pierce Presidential $1 | 38,360,000 | 38,220,000 | 76,580,000 |
No new breakouts by Presidential dollar were provided in last month’s figures but 49 million more were struck, broken out equally between Denver and Philadelphia. Those are a portion of the James Buchanan $1s expected to be released into circulation on August 19, 2010.
A small batch of 1.4 million Native American dollars were also produced in Denver.
The dream’s over for 2010 nickels. They were the last hope for beating last year’s low totals and now Denver is poised to pass last years probably this month. I was also hoping either mint would come in below a billion for the cents this year. That’s not gonna happen either. Sigh… 2009 it is…
I think the Yellowstone quarter numbers are off…
34,800,000 Denver 33,600,000 Philly and 38,400,000 total
(should be 68,400,000 ?)
Thanks Michael, the body of the copy was right, but the table total was not. We made the correction.
[…] Yet, despite the overall slowdown in July, it easily ranks as the second busiest month for the U.S. Mint in more than a year. It trails behind the monthly surge in June. […]
Yes the 2010 NIckels and dimes will be regular run of the mill coins. But 2009 will continue to shine for years to come. I have some tubes on my desk, and as I search coins each day in my spare time I keep ALL 2009 nickels and dimes I can find. Which is NOT MUCH. Less than a roll of EACH denomination, and i don’t even separate by mint. Over $15,000 in nickels searched this year alone (2010) and I’ve found THREE TOTAL 2009 nickels. Just starting to find some 2010 D nickels 9Since they started making them again)… Read more »
@John : A customer paid me with a 2009-P nickel late in November 2009. To date, that is the only 2009 dated nickel I have seen. It’s been fun searching through change again.