More Chickasaw Quarters have been struck — by far — than any other America the Beautiful Quarter, U.S. Mint coin production figures for November reveal.
Also unveiled were Garfield Presidential $1 mintages. No big surprise with those as they came pretty much in line with other recent issues in the Presidential $1 coin series.
Released Thursday by the United States Mint, November coin production figures improved 715.96 million for a 3.7 percent increase over October and a resounding 34.7 percent jump above the same time a year ago. The tally was the sixth highest through the past 12 months as highlighted in the following table:
Monthly US Mint Coin Production Figures / Mintages
| Month | Mintages | Rank |
| November 2011 | 715.96 M | 6 |
| October 2011 | 690.66 M | 7 |
| September 2011 | 811.42 M | 3 |
| August 2011 | 604.54 M | 9 |
| July 2011 | 821.98 M | 2 |
| June 2011 | 903.06 M | 1 |
| May 2011 | 807.41 M | 4 |
| April 2011 | 640.17 M | 8 |
| March 2011 | 485.5 M | 12 |
| February 2011 | 523.14 M | 11 |
| January 2011 | 764.73 M | 5 |
| December 2010 | 80.200 M | 13 |
| November 2010 | 531.46 M | 10 |
Before discussing individual mintages, overall production figures grew to 7.76857 billion for the year. That is already 21.9 percent higher than 2010 and more than twice the entire output from 2009. United States Mint facilities in Denver and Philadelphia are responsible for the total, as they strike all American coinage intended for circulation. Split between plants, 4.03036 billion of this year’s coins have come from Denver and 3.73821 billion from Philadelphia.
On a monthly basis, Denver in November was busier than Philadelphia, with the former’s split at 378.50 million and the latter’s at 337.46 million. The mints’ monthly activity by facility is shown in the following table:
US Mint Circulating Coin Production November 2011 Totals
| Denver | Philadelphia | Total | |
| Lincoln Cents | 224,000,000 | 225,600,000 | 449,600,000 |
| Jefferson Nickels | 49,440,000 | 35,520,000 | 84,960,000 |
| Roosevelt Dimes | 53,000,000 | 51,500,000 | 104,500,000 |
| 2011 Quarters | 27,000,000 | 15,600,000 | 42,600,000 |
| Kennedy Half Dollars | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Native American $1s | 25,060,000 | 7,140,000 | 32,200,000 |
| Presidential Dollars | 0 | 2,100,000 | 2,100,000 |
| Total | 378,900,000 | 337,060,000 | 715,960,000 |
Coming back to some individual totals for the month, Lincoln cents account for 62.8 percent of all coins produced in November. Kennedy half dollars have not been coined since January. That is normal as they are generally produced only toward the beginning of the year and, while a business strike, only in enough quantities to fulfill collector demand.
By law, at least 20 percent of all dollars minted each year must be Native American $1’s. Their November increase actually brought them a bit above that level with 20.7 percent of the Mint’s dollar coin production currently credited to Native American coins with the remaining mintages Presidential $1 coins.
James Garfield Presidential $1 Mintages
Speaking of the Presidential $1 series, mintages have been called for James Garfield Presidential $1’s. Released into circulation on November 17, the United States Mint produced a total of 74.2 million — 37.1 million each in Denver and Philadelphia. How Garfield $1’s compares against past Presidential $1 coins may be seen in the following table:
US Mint Circulating Presidential $1 Mintages
| Denver | Philadelphia | Total | |
| 2007 George Washington $1 | 163,680,000 | 176,680,000 | 340,360,000 |
| 2007 John Adams $1 | 112,140,000 | 112,420,000 | 224,560,000 |
| 2007 Thomas Jefferson $1 | 102,810,000 | 100,800,000 | 203,610,000 |
| 2007 James Madison $1 | 87,780,000 | 84,560,000 | 172,340,000 |
| 2008 James Monroe $1 | 60,230,000 | 64,260,000 | 124,490,000 |
| 2008 John Quincy Adams $1 | 57,720,000 | 57,540,000 | 115,260,000 |
| 2008 Andrew Jackson $1 | 61,070,000 | 61,180,000 | 122,250,000 |
| 2008 Martin Van Buren $1 | 50,960,000 | 51,520,000 | 102,480,000 |
| 2009 William Henry Harrison $1 | 55,160,000 | 43,260,000 | 98,420,000 |
| 2009 John Tyler $1 | 43,540,000 | 43,540,000 | 87,080,000 |
| 2009 James K. Polk $1 | 41,720,000 | 46,620,000 | 88,340,000 |
| 2009 Zachary Taylor $1 | 36,680,000 | 41,580,000 | 78,260,000 |
| 2010 Millard Fillmore $1 | 36,960,000 | 37,520,000 | 74,480,000 |
| 2010 Franklin Pierce $1 | 38,360,000 | 38,220,000 | 76,580,000 |
| 2010 James Buchanan $1 | 36,540,000 | 36,820,000 | 73,360,000 |
| 2010 Abraham Lincoln $1 | 48,020,000 | 49,000,000 | 97,020,000 |
| 2011 Andrew Johnson $1 | 37,100,000 | 35,560,000 | 72,660,000 |
| 2011 Ulysses S. Grant $1 | 37,940,000 | 38,080,000 | 76,020,000 |
| 2011 Rutherford B. Hayes $1 | 36,820,000 | 37,660,000 | 74,480,000 |
| 2011 James Garfield $1 | 37,100,000 | 37,100,000 | 74,200,000 |
As alluded to earlier, Garfield $1 production figures are not "special" in the sense of contrasting with solidly upper or lower mintages against the other issues.
Chickasaw Quarter Mintages
In terms of scarcity, that term cannot be applied to Chickasaw quarters. Released into circulation on November 14, their total mintage is published at 143.2 million. Broken out by United States Mint facility, 69.4 million were made in Denver and 73.8 million in Philadelphia. A contrasting chart of America the Beautiful Quarter (ATB) mintages is not needed in this case, since the production run was so high. The total is more than double any of the past ATB quarter releases. In fact, a quarter’s mintage has not been as high since the debut coin in the 2009 District of Columbia and U.S. Territories Quarters Program.
In a final quarter mintage update, Gettysburg quarter totals have changed from earlier reports. The United States Mint indicates 30.4 million were produced in Denver and 30.8 million in Philadelphia. Previously, those mintages were reported in reverse order.
Wrapping things up, the following table summarizes this year’s United States mintage figures by coin design and denomination.
US Mint YTD 2011 Coin Production / Mintages by Design
| Denver | Philadelphia | 2011 Total | |
| Lincoln Cents | 2,400,940,000 | 2,232,400,000 | 4,633,340,000 |
| Jefferson Nickels | 523,200,000 | 414,960,000 | 938,160,000 |
| Roosevelt Dimes | 712,000,000 | 715,500,000 | 1,427,500,000 |
| Gettysburg Park Quarter | 30,400,000 | 30,800,000 | 61,200,000 |
| Glacier Park Quarter | 31,200,000 | 30,400,000 | 61,600,000 |
| Olympic Park Quarter | 30,600,000 | 30,400,000 | 61,000,000 |
| Vicksburg Quarter | 33,800,000 | 30,400,000 | 64,200,000 |
| Chickasaw Quarter | 69,400,000 | 73,800,000 | 143,200,000 |
| Kennedy Half Dollars | 1,700,000 | 1,750,000 | 3,450,000 |
| Native American $1 | 48,160,000 | 29,400,000 | 77,560,000 |
| Johnson Presidential $1 | 37,100,000 | 35,560,000 | 72,660,000 |
| Grant Presidential $1 | 37,940,000 | 38,080,000 | 76,020,000 |
| Rutherford B. Hayes $1 | 36,820,000 | 37,660,000 | 74,480,000 |
| Garfield Presidential $1 | 37,100,000 | 37,100,000 | 74,200,000 |
Coin production figures above are based on data from the United States Mint page: http://www.usmint.gov/about_the_mint/?action=coin_production.
Mintages are well on the way to being boring again. It was fun while it lasted.