The United States Mint in nine months this year has already struck more coins for circulation than in any year since 2007.
Over 1.47 billion in pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters came out of U.S. Mint coining presses in September, lifting the production total for 2015 so far to over 13.3 billion coins. The agency this year is on track to strike more coins than in any year since 2001.
In monthly comparisons, the latest total is 29.3% more than August’s and 47% higher than in September 2014. Here’s how the month stacks up against others in the past year:
2014 – 2015 September Coin Production Figures
| Month | Mintages | Rank |
| September 2015 | 1,476.37 M | 6 |
| August 2015 | 1,142.46 M | 10 |
| July 2015 | 1,665.76 M | 3 |
| June 2015 | 1,673.95 M | 2 |
| May 2015 | 1,459.86 M | 5 |
| April 2015 | 1,696.56 M | 1 |
| March 2015 | 1,403.44 M | 7 |
| February 2015 | 1,277.96 M | 8 |
| January 2015 | 1,539.15 M | 4 |
| December 2014 | 878.84 M | 13 |
| November 2014 | 958.78 M | 12 |
| October 2014 | 1,168.78 M | 9 |
| September 2014 | 1,004.24 M | 11 |
Pennies cost more to make and distribute at about 1.7 cents than they’re worth, yet the Federal Reserve always orders more of them from the United States Mint than any other denomination. In September, the Mint struck 833.3 million Lincoln cents, or about 56.4% of the circulating-quality coins produced for the month. The percentage is a tad higher than typical months.
In the latest month-over-month comparisons for coins used every day by Americans, September saw:
- 38.1% more Lincoln cents,
- 50.7% more Jefferson nickels,
- 21.6% more Roosevelt dimes, and
- 6.4% more America the Beautiful Quarters.
Presidential $1 Coins, Native American $1 Coins and Kennedy half-dollars are no longer ordered by Federal Reserve Banks but the United States Mint continues to make them in circulating-quality for coin collectors.
In January, the U.S. Mint produced 2015 Kennedy halves to the expected amounts needed for the entire year. That is typically how it works for Native American $1 Coins as well but in March their number grew slightly. In September, the Mint made a correction to the number of Presidential $1 Coins. Here’s a summary of the coins produced last month:
US Mint Circulating Coin Production in September 2015
| Denomination | Denver | Philadelphia | Total |
| Lincoln Cents | 454,000,000 | 379,300,000 | 833,300,000 |
| Jefferson Nickels | 82,320,000 | 56,160,000 | 138,480,000 |
| Roosevelt Dimes | 136,000,000 | 100,510,000 | 236,510,000 |
| 2015 ATB Quarters | 147,400,000 | 120,820,000 | 268,220,000 |
| Kennedy Half Dollars | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Native American $1s | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Presidential Dollars | -140,000 | 0 | -140,000 |
| Total | 819,580,000 | 656,790,000 | 1,476,370,000 |
U.S. circulating coin production facilities are in Denver and Philadelphia. Last month, the Denver Mint produced 819.58 million coins and the Philadelphia Mint made 656.79 million coins.
Year To Date
For the January through September period, the Denver Mint struck over 6.8 billion coins and the Philadelphia Mint made almost 6.5 billion coins for a combined output of 13,335,540,000. That’s a 29.8% increase over the 10,277,360,000 coins minted through the same months in 2014, and the most for a year since the 14.4 billion coins in 2007. Last year’s 12-month total reached just over 13.28 billion coins. This next table lists year-to-date coin totals by denomination.
YTD 2015 Circulating Coin Production by Denomination
| 1 ¢ | 5 ¢ | 10 ¢ | 25 ¢ | 50 ¢ | N.A. $1 | Pres $1 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denver | 3623.6M | 654.24M | 1194.5M | 1309.8M | 2.3M | 2.24M | 16.67M | 6803.35M |
| Philadelphia | 3622.9M | 568.8M | 1160.51M | 1154.02M | 2.3M | 2.8M | 20.86M | 6532.19M |
| Total | 7246.5M | 1223.04M | 2355.01M | 2463.82M | 4.6M | 5.04M | 37.53M | 13335.54M |
The U.S. Mint is averaging a monthly production run of nearly 1.49 billion coins. Stretched through 12 months, the agency is on pace to make 17.78 billion coins this year. Such a level has not been seen since 2001 when over 19.4 billion coins were produced.
More JFK Dollars
In dollar designs, Denver Mint figures for John F. Kennedy Presidential $1 Coins climbed by 140,000. The U.S. Mint started selling rolls, bags and boxes of them back on June. 18. With 11.48 million in total, there are more JFK dollars than any in the series since the second term Grover Cleveland Presidential $1 Coins launched in late 2012.
The following table offers a breakdown of this year’s mintages by coin design:
2015 Circulating Coin Production by Design
| Denver | Philadelphia | Total | |
| Lincoln Cents | 3,623,600,000 | 3,622,900,000 | 7,246,500,000 |
| Jefferson Nickels | 654,240,000 | 568,800,000 | 1,223,040,000 |
| Roosevelt Dimes | 1,194,500,000 | 1,160,510,000 | 2,355,010,000 |
| Homestead National Monument of America Quarter | 248,600,000 | 214,400,000 | 463,000,000 |
| Kisatchie National Forest Quarter | 379,600,000 | 397,200,000 | 776,800,000 |
| Blue Ridge Parkway Quarter | 505,200,000 | 325,600,000 | 830,800,000 |
| Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge Quarter | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Saratoga National Historical Park Quarter | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kennedy Half Dollars | 2,300,000 | 2,300,000 | 4,600,000 |
| Native American $1 | 2,240,000 | 2,800,000 | 5,040,000 |
| Harry S. Truman $1 | 3,500,000 | 4,900,000 | 8,400,000 |
| Dwight D. Eisenhower $1 | 3,646,000 | 4,900,000 | 8,546,000 |
| John F. Kennedy $1 | 5,320,000 | 6,160,000 | 11,480,000 |
| Lyndon B. Johnson $1 | 4,200,000 | 4,900,000 | 9,100,000 |
| Total | 6,626,946,000 | 6,315,370,000 | 12,942,316,000 |
There is one difference when subtracting coin totals by design from those by denomination — mintages of America the Beautiful Quarters are higher by 393.22 million. These are a portion of the Bombay Hook quarters for Delaware. The United States Mint started selling bags and rolls of the coins on Sept. 30.
The Mint will continue to make Bombay Hook quarters through October. The agency is also likely already striking Saratoga National Historical quarters in preparation for their mid-November release.
Coin production figures in this coin news article are based on data aggregated from the U.S. Mint webpage at: http://www.usmint.gov/about_the_mint/?action=ProductionFigures.
