U.S. coin production increased for a third straight month in July with United States Mint facilities in Philadelphia and Denver pressing over 1.8 billion coins for circulation, the most for a month than any since at least 2007 when CoinNews started tracking the data.
The U.S. Mint’s production surged 14.2% from June and jumped 8.5% from the same time a year ago. Here’s how the month stacks up against others in the past year:
July 2015 to July 2016 Coin Production Figures
| Month | Mintages | Rank |
| July 2016 | 1,807.20 M | 1 |
| June 2016 | 1,582.06 M | 4 |
| May 2016 | 1,550.12 M | 5 |
| April 2016 | 1,339.06 M | 9 |
| March 2016 | 1,446.14 M | 8 |
| February 2016 | 930.26 M | 12 |
| January 2016 | 1,515.84 M | 6 |
| December 2015 | 707.79 M | 13 |
| November 2015 | 1,245.73 M | 10 |
| October 2015 | 1,757.64 M | 2 |
| September 2015 | 1,476.37 M | 7 |
| August 2015 | 1,142.46 M | 11 |
| July 2015 | 1,665.76 M | 3 |
Lincoln cents cost more to make and distribute than they’re worth (1.43 cents for each in FY2015) but the Federal Reserve always orders more of them than any other denomination. A combined 928 million in cents came out of U.S. Mint presses in July, representing 51.4% of the circulating-quality coins produced for the month.
In the latest month-over month comparisons for coins used daily by Americans, production totals advanced:
- 5.3% for Lincoln cents,
- 7.9% for Jefferson nickels,
- 55.5% for Roosevelt dimes, and
- 8.7% for America the Beautiful Quarters.
As for other denominations, Presidential $1 Coins, Native American $1 Coins and Kennedy half-dollars are no longer ordered by the Federal Reserve for distribution to banks but the U.S. Mint continues to make them in circulating quality for coin collectors.
In January, the U.S. Mint produced Native American $1 Coins to the expected amounts needed for all of 2016. That is usually how it works for Kennedy half-dollars but in February another 400,000 were pressed at the Philadelphia Mint and then in March another 400,000 were made at the Denver Mint. In June, the Denver Mint reported an increase of 980,000 in Reagan dollars.
Here’s a summary of all circulating-quality coins produced last month:
US Mint Circulating Coin Production in July 2016
| Denomination | Denver | Philadelphia | Total |
| Lincoln Cents | 440,000,000 | 488,000,000 | 928,000,000 |
| Jefferson Nickels | 70,320,000 | 70,080,000 | 140,400,000 |
| Roosevelt Dimes | 198,000,000 | 200,000,000 | 398,000,000 |
| 2016 ATB Quarters | 179,600,000 | 161,200,000 | 340,800,000 |
| Kennedy Half Dollars | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Native American $1s | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Presidential Dollars | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 887,920,000 | 919,280,000 | 1,807,200,000 |
Facilities in Denver and Philadelphia manufacture all U.S. coinage for commerce. Last month, the Denver Mint made 887.92 million coins and the Philadelphia Mint produced 919.28 million coins.
In the longer haul from the January to July period, the Denver Mint pressed 4,963,880,000 coins and the Philadelphia Mint struck 5,206,800,000 coins for a combined 10,170,680,000 coins, which is 5.1% fewer than the 10,716,710,000 coins minted by this time last year.
This next table lists 2016 coin production totals by denomination and by U.S. Mint facility:
YTD 2016 Circulating Coin Production by Denomination
| 1 ¢ | 5 ¢ | 10 ¢ | 25 ¢ | 50 ¢ | N.A. $1 | Pres $1 | Total: | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denver | 2797.6M | 476.64M | 896M | 774.6M | 2.1M | 2.1M | 14.84M | 4963.88M |
| Philadelphia | 2984M | 477.36M | 954M | 769.6M | 2.1M | 2.8M | 16.94M | 5206.8M |
| Total | 5781.6M | 954M | 1850M | 1544.2M | 4.2M | 4.9M | 31.78M | 10170.68M |
This year’s monthly average of roughly 1.45 billion coins tracks over 12 months to more than 17.4 billion coins. Last year, the U.S. Mint made just over 17 billion circulating coins for a sixth straight year of growth and the quickest production pace since the 2001.
The following table summarizes this year’s mintages by coin design:
2016 Circulating Coin Production by Design
| Denver | Philadelphia | Total | |
| Lincoln Cents | 2,797,600,000 | 2,984,000,000 | 5,781,600,000 |
| Jefferson Nickels | 476,640,000 | 477,360,000 | 954,000,000 |
| Roosevelt Dimes | 896,000,000 | 954,000,000 | 1,850,000,000 |
| Shawnee National Forest Quarter | 151,800,000 | 155,600,000 | 307,400,000 |
| Cumberland Gap National Historical Park Quarter | 223,200,000 | 215,400,000 | 438,600,000 |
| Harpers Ferry National Historical Park Quarter | – | – | – |
| Theodore Roosevelt National Park Quarter | – | – | – |
| Fort Moultrie Quarter | – | – | – |
| Kennedy Half Dollars | 2,100,000 | 2,100,000 | 4,200,000 |
| Native American $1 | 2,100,000 | 2,800,000 | 4,900,000 |
| Richard M. Nixon $1 | 4,340,000 | 5,460,000 | 9,800,000 |
| Gerald R. Ford $1 | 5,040,000 | 5,460,000 | 10,500,000 |
| Ronald Reagan $1 | 5,460,000 | 6,020,000 | 11,480,000 |
| Total | 4,564,280,000 | 4,808,200,000 | 9,372,480,000 |
There are now 798.2 million quarters that haven’t been officially assigned to a design. These are the bulk of Harpers Ferry quarters that started to enter circulation in June. Their final mintages should be available by next month’s report.
Coin production figures in this coin news article are based on data aggregated from the Mint’s webpage at: http://www.usmint.gov/about_the_mint/?action=ProductionFigures.
