United States Mint production facilities in Philadelphia and Denver struck more coins last month than in any since 2007.
New U.S. Mint figures for January also show a strong 2015 start for nickel and quarter production and probable ending mintages for 2015 Kennedy half-dollars and 2015 Native American $1 Coins.
Coining presses pounded out more than 1.5 billion coins last month, marking increases of 75.1% from December and 6.2% from a year ago. That said, December is traditionally a very soft production time as the U.S. Mint shifts gears for the coming year and, conversely, January is normally a top production month.
The following table offers monthly circulating coin production totals and their rankings over the past year.
2014 – 2015 January Coin Production Figures
| Month | Mintages | Rank |
| January 2015 | 1,539.15 M | 1 |
| December 2014 | 878.84M | 12 |
| November 2014 | 958.78 M | 9 |
| October 2014 | 1,168.78 M | 5 |
| September 2014 | 1,004.24 M | 8 |
| August 2014 | 913.38 M | 11 |
| 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 | 7 |
| March 2014 | 1,025.40 M | 6 |
| February 2014 | 939.04 M | 10 |
| January 2014 | 1,449.38 M | 2 |
In a quick FYI, coin usage in the United States is monitored by the Federal Reserve. The U.S. Mint accepts coinage orders from the Fed, strikes coins and then delivers them to Federal Reserve Banks for distribution throughout the nation.
Never missing a beat, the demand for pennies is by far the highest among denominations. We love our pennies, even though it costs the U.S Mint 1.7 cents to produce and distribute each one. The agency struck 666.4 million Lincoln cents in January, which is 43.3% of all the circulating-quality coins made for the month. That’s actually lower than normal, with the typical monthly tally more around the 60% level.
It’s also much lower than a year ago. In year-over-year comparisons for coins used daily by Americans, production totals:
- Tumbled 21% for Lincoln cents,
- Surged 42% for Jefferson nickels,
- Fell 13.1% for Roosevelt dimes, and
- Soared 116.1% 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 Mint continues to strike them in circulating-quality for coin collectors. More about those later…
Here is a break down for all circulating-quality coins made by the U.S. Mint in January:
US Mint Circulating Coin Production in January 2015
| Denomination | Denver | Philadelphia | Total |
| Lincoln Cents | 314,000,000 | 352,400,000 | 666,400,000 |
| Jefferson Nickels | 108,000,000 | 59,280,000 | 167,280,000 |
| Roosevelt Dimes | 107,000,000 | 105,000,000 | 212,000,000 |
| 2015 ATB Quarters | 248,600,000 | 220,000,000 | 468,600,000 |
| Kennedy Half Dollars | 2,300,000 | 2,300,000 | 4,600,000 |
| Native American $1s | 2,100,000 | 2,240,000 | 4,340,000 |
| Presidential Dollars | 6,720,000 | 9,240,000 | 15,960,000 |
| Total | 788,720,000 | 750,460,000 | 1,539,180,000 |
Last month, the Philadelphia Mint struck 750.46 million coins and the Denver Mint produced 788.72 million coins.
While unlikely, especially with typically low December totals and other monthly fluctuations mixed in, if the current production pace stretched through to the end of this year, 2015 annual mintages would top 18.47 billion coins. Such a level has not been recorded since over 19.4 billion coins were minted for circulation in 2001. Last year, the U.S. Mint produced 13.28 billion circulating coins, the most since 14.4 billion coins were made in 2007.
This next table offers production totals by coin design. Most columns remain empty as the U.S. Mint is yet to declare any mintages for 2015 Presidential $1 Coins and 2015 America the Beautiful Quarters. The agency did introduced Harry S. Truman dollars on Feb. 5. Also, rolls and bags of Homestead National Monument of America Quarters for Nebraska have a release date of Feb. 24. Homestead quarters debuted ceremoniously last week.
2015 Circulating Coin Production by Design
| Denver | Philadelphia | 2014 Total | |
| Lincoln Cents | 314,000,000 | 352,400,000 | 666,400,000 |
| Jefferson Nickels | 108,000,000 | 59,280,000 | 167,280,000 |
| Roosevelt Dimes | 107,000,000 | 105,000,000 | 212,000,000 |
| Homestead National Monument of America Quarter | – | – | – |
| Kisatchie National Forest Quarter | – | – | – |
| Blue Ridge Parkway Quarter | – | – | – |
| Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge Quarter | – | – | – |
| Saratoga National Historical Park Quarter | – | – | – |
| Kennedy Half Dollars | 2,300,000 | 2,300,000 | 4,600,000 |
| Native American $1 | 2,100,000 | 2,240,000 | 4,340,000 |
| Harry S. Truman $1 | – | – | – |
| Dwight D. Eisenhower $1 | – | – | – |
| John F. Kennedy $1 | – | – | – |
| Lyndon B. Johnson $1 | – | – | – |
| Total | 533,400,000 | 521,220,000 | 1,054,620,000 |
Mentioned earlier, mintages are likely finalized for 2015 Kennedy half-dollar and 2015 Native American $1 Coins. In January, the U.S. Mint tends to strike the expected amounts needed for the entire year. Sharper-than-normal demand from collectors can change that, but that’s a rarity.
Last year, totals for the two coins remained unchanged from January with 4.6 million in 2014 Kennedy half-dollars and 8.68 million in 2014 Native American $1 Coins. While this year’s Kennedy mintage matches last year, the 2015 Native American dollar mintage is half that of 2014.
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.
why can’t you buy pennies from philly or denver mints (new) pennies?