United States Mint production facilities in Denver and Philadelphia struck more coins in October than the previous month but less than a year earlier.
Figures show an October output of 1,168,780,000 in pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters for a 16.4% increase over the previous month and a decline of 4.2% from a year ago. Here’s how the month stacks up against others over the past year:
2013 – 2014 October Coin Production Figures
| Month | Mintages | Rank |
| October 2014 | 1,168.78 M | 6 |
| September 2014 | 1,004.24 M | 9 |
| August 2014 | 913.38 M | 12 |
| July 2014 | 1,331.34 M | 2 |
| June 2014 | 1,279.82 M | 4 |
| May 2014 | 1,326.80 M | 3 |
| April 2014 | 1,007.96 M | 8 |
| March 2014 | 1,025.40 M | 7 |
| February 2014 | 939.04 M | 11 |
| January 2014 | 1,449.38 M | 1 |
| December 2013 | 285.96 M | 13 |
| November 2013 | 991.14 M | 10 |
| October 2013 | 1,220.38 M | 5 |
As an always provided sidebar in our monthly coin production articles, the United States Mint does not decide how many coins to make for circulation. It’s the Federal Reserve that orders them based on usage trends and requests from financial institutions around the country.
Lincoln cents always lead coin production figures even as it takes about 1.8 cents to strike and distribute each one. The U.S. Mint made 704.4 million pennies in October which is 60.3% of the circulating coins produced for the month.
In coins found in daily change and in month-over-month comparisons, October saw:
- 25.1% more Lincoln cents,
- 9% more Jefferson nickels,
- 0.8% more Roosevelt dimes, and
- 9.1% more America the Beautiful Quarters
Presidential $1 Coins, Native American $1 Coins and Kennedy half-dollars are no longer ordered by Federal Reserve Banks and placed into circulation but the U.S. Mint still makes them for coin collectors. In January, the agency produced 2014 Native American $1 Coins and 2014 Kennedy half-dollars to the expected amounts needed for the year. Presidential $1 Coins were last minted in May with enough, likely, to support collector demand for all four 2014 designs.
Facilities in Denver and Philadelphia manufacture all U.S. circulating coinage for commerce. In October, the Denver Mint struck 607.54 million coins and the Philadelphia Mint struck 561.24 million coins. Here’s a breakdown of the circulating-quality coins manufactured last month:
US Mint Circulating Coin Production in October 2014
| Denomination | Denver | Philadelphia | Total |
| Lincoln Cents | 351,600,000 | 352,800,000 | 704,400,000 |
| Jefferson Nickels | 55,440,000 | 49,440,000 | 104,880,000 |
| Roosevelt Dimes | 114,500,000 | 87,000,000 | 201,500,000 |
| 2013 ATB Quarters | 86,000,000 | 72,000,000 | 158,000,000 |
| Kennedy Half Dollars | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Native American $1s | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Presidential Dollars | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 607,540,000 | 561,240,000 | 1,168,780,000 |
In the January through October period, circulating coin production totaled 5,889,460,000 in Denver and 5,556,680,000 in Philadelphia. The two production facilities combined have pressed 11,446,140,000 circulating-quality coins for a 7.7% increase over the 10,629,840,000 minted through the first ten months of 2013.
This next table lists 2014 coin production totals by denomination and by U.S. Mint facility:
YTD 2014 Circulating Coin Production by Denomination
| 1 ¢ | 5 ¢ | 10 ¢ | 25 ¢ | 50 ¢ | N.A. $1 | Pres $1 | Total: | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denver | 3498.8M | 524.4M | 980.5M | 862.8M | 2.1M | 5.6M | 15.26M | 5889.46M |
| Philadelphia | 3349.6M | 535.92M | 925.5M | 720.2M | 2.5M | 3.08M | 19.88M | 5556.68M |
| Total | 6848.4M | 1060.32M | 1906M | 1583M | 4.6M | 8.68M | 35.14M | 11446.14M |
This year’s monthly average of more than 1.1 billion coins positions 2014 for an annual total that tops 13.7 billion coins, marking the strongest year since 2007 when the Mint struck 14.4 billion of them. For a more recent comparison, 2013 reached a total of just over 11.9 billion coins.
The following table offers a breakdown of 2014 mintages by coin designs:
2014 Circulating Coin Production / Mintages by Coin Design
| Denver | Philadelphia | 2014 Total | |
| Lincoln Cents | 3,498,800,000 | 3,349,600,000 | 6,848,400,000 |
| Jefferson Nickels | 524,400,000 | 535,920,000 | 1,060,320,000 |
| Roosevelt Dimes | 980,500,000 | 925,500,000 | 1,906,000,000 |
| Great Smoky Mountains Quarter | 99,400,000 | 73,200,000 | 172,600,000 |
| Shenandoah National Park Quarter | 197,800,000 | 112,800,000 | 310,600,000 |
| Arches National Park Quarter | 251,400,000 | 214,200,000 | 465,600,000 |
| Great Sand Dunes Quarter | 171,800,000 | 159,600,000 | 331,400,000 |
| Everglades National Park Quarter | – | – | – |
| Kennedy Half Dollars | 2,100,000 | 2,500,000 | 4,600,000 |
| Native American $1 | 5,600,000 | 3,080,000 | 8,680,000 |
| Warren G. Harding $1 | 3,780,000 | 6,160,000 | 9,940,000 |
| Calvin Coolidge $1 | 3,780,000 | 4,480,000 | 8,260,000 |
| Herbert Hoover $1 | 3,780,000 | 4,480,000 | 8,260,000 |
| Franklin D. Roosevelt $1 | 3,920,000 | 4,760,000 | 8,680,000 |
| Total | 5,747,060,000 | 5,396,280,000 | 11,143,340,000 |
Like the previous month, there is one variation when comparing totals by coin design from the combined production figures by denomination — America the Beautiful Quarter mintages are higher by 302.8 million, more than doubling their prior month difference. These are Everglades quarters that launched into circulation last Monday, Nov. 3.
Coin production figures in this coin news article are based on data aggregated from the U.S. Mint website at: http://www.usmint.gov/about_the_mint/?action=coin_production.
