Fewer coins shipped out of United States Mint production plants in November, snapping a streak of three straight monthly increases. The year-end decrease is typical and will extend into December as the bureau gears up to strike coins for 2014.
As for November, U.S. Mint production facilities in Philadelphia and Denver produced 991,140,000 coins for circulation. That’s a drop of 18.8% from October but 29.4% more than a year ago. Here’s how the month stacks up to others over the past year:
2012 – 2013 November Coin Production Figures / Mintages
| Month | Mintages | Rank |
| November 2013 | 991.14 M | 8 |
| October 2013 | 1,220.38 M | 3 |
| September 2013 | 1,099.34 M | 5 |
| August 2013 | 724.91 M | 12 |
| July 2013 | 1,225.96 M | 1 |
| June 2013 | 1,070.12 M | 7 |
| May 2013 | 1,084.36 M | 6 |
| April 2013 | 1,117.23 M | 4 |
| March 2013 | 932.56 M | 10 |
| February 2013 | 939.98 M | 9 |
| January 2013 | 1,223.68 M | 2 |
| December 2012 | 245.34 M | 13 |
| November 2012 | 765.76 M | 11 |
It’s not the Mint that decides how many coins to produce for circulation. It’s the economy. Federal Reserve Banks order coins from the Mint based on usage trends and orders they receive from financial institutions around the country.
As always, demand for pennies is highest among denominations. In November alone the U.S. Mint struck 563.6 million Lincoln cents. That’s 56.9% of all the circulating-quality coins produced for the month, though the pace was off 16.4% from the prior month
As for the other coins used every day by Americans, each notched month-over-month production declines of:
- 23% for Jefferson nickels,
- 24.7% for Roosevelt dimes, and
- 20.6% for 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 U.S. Mint still makes enough to satisfy collector demand. Native American $1 Coins have not been produced since January and Presidential $1 Coins were last struck in August. But for the first time since April, Kennedy halves flowed through coining presses and more than doubled their mintages.
The following table offers November coin production figures by denomination:
US Mint Circulating Coin Production in November 2013
| Denomination | Denver | Philadelphia | Total |
| Lincoln Cents | 230,800,000 | 332,800,000 | 563,600,000 |
| Jefferson Nickels | 40,320,000 | 60,720,000 | 101,040,000 |
| Roosevelt Dimes | 77,000,000 | 90,500,000 | 167,500,000 |
| 2013 ATB Quarters | 75,000,000 | 78,000,000 | 153,000,000 |
| Kennedy Half Dollars | 2,800,000 | 3,200,000 | 6,000,000 |
| Native American $1s | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Presidential Dollars | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 425,920,000 | 565,220,000 | 991,140,000 |
U.S. Mint facilities in Philadelphia and Denver manufacture all of America’s circulating coins for commerce. For the January through November period, the Philadelphia Mint produced 5,953,150,000 coins and the Denver Mint struck 5,667,830,000 coins.
That lifts the year-to-date total for both plants to 11,620,980,000 coins for a 27.8% jump over the 9,090,890,000 coins struck through the first eleven months in 2012. The amount is already the highest for a year since 2007 when more than 14.4 billion coins were pressed. This year’s monthly average of more than 1.05 billion coins sets 2013 on track for an annual coin production total of nearly 12.7 billion coins.
The following table offers the latest production breakdown by denomination and U.S. Mint facility:
2013 Circulating Coin Production by Denomination
| 1 ¢ | 5 ¢ | 10 ¢ | 25 ¢ | 50 ¢ | N.A. $1 | Pres $1 | Total: | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denver | 3242.8M | 602.4M | 1001M | 801.2M | 4.6M | 1.82M | 14.01M | 5667.83M |
| Philadelphia | 3624.4M | 595.68M | 1056M | 650.8M | 5M | 1.82M | 19.45M | 5953.15M |
| Total | 6867.2M | 1198.08M | 2057M | 1452M | 9.6M | 3.64M | 33.46M | 11620.98M |
Still unknown is the mintage total and breakdown by production facility for the Mount Rushmore quarter, the last of this year’s America the Beautiful Quarters and the twentieth issued since the series start in 2010. Mount Rushmore quarters entered circulation on Nov. 4, 2013. The Mint continues to strike them, as briefly discussed further below.
The following grid lists 2013 mintages by coin design:
2013 Circulating Coin Production / Mintages by Coin Design
| Denver | Philadelphia | 2013 Total | |
| Lincoln Cents | 3,242,800,000 | 3,624,400,000 | 6,867,200,000 |
| Jefferson Nickels | 602,400,000 | 595,680,000 | 1,198,080,000 |
| Roosevelt Dimes | 1,001,000,000 | 1,056,000,000 | 2,057,000,000 |
| White Mountain Quarter | 107,600,000 | 68,800,000 | 176,400,000 |
| Perry’s Victory Quarter | 131,600,000 | 107,800,000 | 239,400,000 |
| Great Basin Quarter | 141,400,000 | 122,400,000 | 263,800,000 |
| Fort McHenry Quarter | 151,400,000 | 120,000,000 | 271,400,000 |
| Mount Rushmore Quarter | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kennedy Half Dollars | 4,600,000 | 5,000,000 | 9,600,000 |
| Native American $1 | 1,820,000 | 1,820,000 | 3,640,000 |
| William McKinley $1 | 3,365,100 | 4,760,000 | 8,125,100 |
| Theodore Roosevelt $1 | 3,920,000 | 5,310,700 | 9,230,700 |
| William Howard Taft $1 | 3,360,000 | 4,760,000 | 8,120,000 |
| Woodrow Wilson $1 | 3,360,000 | 4,620,000 | 7,980,000 |
| Total | 5,398,625,100 | 5,721,350,700 | 11,119,975,800 |
There are two differences found when subtracting the totals by coin design from the totals by denomination:
-
America the Beautiful Quarters are higher by 501 million. Last month’s report had them up by 348 million and report from the month before had them higher by 155.4 million. The continuing increases are a reminder that the Mint continues to strike 2013 Mount Rushmore quarters. They will have highest mintage of any America the Beautiful Quarter.
- For a fourth straight report and the result of a rounding difference, Presidential $1 Coins are higher by 4,200.
Circulating coin production figures in this coin news article are based on data aggregated from the United States Mint webpage found at: http://www.usmint.gov/about_the_mint/?action=coin_production.
