Production of U.S. coins for circulation slowed in August for the first time in four months, according to United States Mint figures published last Thursday, Sept. 8.
The data also shows mintages for West Virginia’s Harpers Ferry National Historical Park coin, the third of this year’s five differently designed quarters. Overall, its mintage is the highest among quarters since those from 2001.
Coin production hit the 1.3 billion mark last month, falling 27.9% from July when over 1.8 billion coins were made — the highest for a month than any since at least 2007 when CoinNews started tracking the data. While the pace was off from July, it was 14.1% quicker than a year earlier.
Here’s how the month stacks up against others in the past year:
August 2015 to August 2016 Coin Production Figures
| Month | Mintages | Rank |
| August 2016 | 1,302.95 M | 9 |
| July 2016 | 1,807.20 M | 1 |
| June 2016 | 1,582.06 M | 3 |
| May 2016 | 1,550.12 M | 4 |
| April 2016 | 1,339.06 M | 8 |
| March 2016 | 1,446.14 M | 7 |
| February 2016 | 930.26 M | 12 |
| January 2016 | 1,515.84 M | 5 |
| 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 | 6 |
| August 2015 | 1,142.46 M | 11 |
Lincoln cents cost more to make and distribute (1.43 cents) than they’re worth, but the Federal Reserve always orders more of them than any other denomination. A combined 678.4 million came out of U.S. Mint presses in August, representing 52.1% of the circulating-quality coins produced for the month.
In the latest month-over month comparisons for coins used daily by Americans, production totals declined:
- 26.9% for Lincoln cents,
- 8.5% for Jefferson nickels,
- 27.4% for Roosevelt dimes, and
- 39.5% 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 Banks for distribution 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 August, the Philadelphia Mint reported an increase of 1.12 million in Reagan dollars.
Here’s a summary of all circulating-quality coins produced last month:
US Mint Circulating Coin Production in August 2016
| Denomination | Denver | Philadelphia | Total |
| Lincoln Cents | 286,800,000 | 391,600,000 | 678,400,000 |
| Jefferson Nickels | 50,880,000 | 77,520,000 | 128,400,000 |
| Roosevelt Dimes | 126,000,000 | 163,000,000 | 289,000,000 |
| 2016 ATB Quarters | 88,000,000 | 118,030,000 | 206,030,000 |
| Kennedy Half Dollars | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Native American $1s | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Presidential Dollars | 0 | 1,120,000 | 1,120,000 |
| Total | 551,680,000 | 751,270,000 | 1,302,950,000 |
Facilities in Denver and Philadelphia manufacture all U.S. coins for commerce. Last month, the Denver Mint made 551.68 million coins and the Philadelphia Mint produced 751.27 million coins.
In the longer haul from the January to August period, the Denver Mint pressed 5,515,560,000 coins and the Philadelphia Mint struck 5,958,070,000 coins for a combined 11,473,630,000 coins. That is 3.3% fewer than the 11,859,170,000 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 | 3084.4M | 527.52M | 1022M | 862.6M | 2.1M | 2.1M | 14.84M | 5515.56M |
| Philadelphia | 3375.6M | 554.88M | 1117M | 887.63M | 2.1M | 2.8M | 18.06M | 5958.07M |
| Total | 6460M | 1082.4M | 2139M | 1750.23M | 4.2M | 4.9M | 32.9M | 11473.63M |
This year’s monthly average of roughly 1.43 billion coins tracks over 12 months to about 17.2 billion coins. As a resent comparison, the U.S. Mint in 2015 made just over 17 billion circulating coins for a sixth straight year of growth and the fastest production pace since the 2001.
2016 Harpers Ferry Quarter Mintages
Harpers Ferry quarters began entering circulation in June, with the Mint ending their production in August. Their mintages are 424 million from Denver and 434.63 million from Philadelphia for a combined 858.63 million.
The amount almost doubles the previous release depicting Cumberland Gap National Historical Park in Kentucky, and it ranks highest of the 34 quarters issued in the U.S. Mint’s series of America the Beautiful Quarters® (2010-2021). Compared against all quarters, it’s the strongest since the 2001 Vermont quarter from the U.S. Mint’s 50 State Quarters® series (1999-2008). It totaled over 882.4 million.
The following table summarizes this year’s mintages by coin design:
2016 Circulating Coin Production by Design
| Denver | Philadelphia | Total | |
| Lincoln Cents | 3,084,400,000 | 3,375,600,000 | 6,460,000,000 |
| Jefferson Nickels | 527,520,000 | 554,880,000 | 1,082,400,000 |
| Roosevelt Dimes | 1,022,000,000 | 1,117,000,000 | 2,139,000,000 |
| 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 | 424,000,000 | 434,630,000 | 858,630,000 |
| 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 | 7,140,000 | 12,600,000 |
| Total | 5,451,960,000 | 5,876,070,000 | 11,328,030,000 |
There are 145.6 million quarters that haven’t been officially assigned to a design yet. These are some of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park quarters that started to enter circulation in late August. Their final mintages should be available by September or October.
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.
Record quarter production is a good indicator that the economy is still humming along.
Correction:
Record money-printing (& minting) is a good indicator that this economy is not performing as well as a robust, manufacturing-based economy would be.
“Harpers Ferry quarters began entering circulation in June, with the Mint ending their production in August. Their mintages are 424 million from Denver and 434.63 million from Philadelphia for a combined 858.63 million.” – – – I have a habit of tossing the shiny, brand-new, perfect-looking new quarters that I receive in pocket change into a jar. However – given the huge numbers of quarters that are minted – will these quarters ever be worth more than $0.25? Yes I could of course pass them on to the youngsters in my family, or I can just put them into coin… Read more »