US Mint Coin Production Nears 960 Million in April

U.S. coin production slowed to a four-month low in April, according to the latest round of manufacturing figures from the United States Mint. Nearly 960 million across cents, nickels, dimes, quarters, and dollars were pressed for the month.

In headline comparisons, the level marks declines of 33.6% from March and 28.3% from April 2016. Here’s how the month stacks up against others in the past year:

2016 – 2017 April Coin Production Figures

The Federal Reserve orders more 1-cent coins than other denominations even as it costs 1.5 cents to make and distribute each one. The U.S. Mint produced a combined 504 million Lincoln cents in April, representing 52.5% of the circulating-quality coins produced for the month.

P-Mint Cents Change

2017-dated circulating cents from the U.S. Mint facility at Philadelphia include a ‘P’ mint mark for the first time in history. This is a one-year-only embellishment, added as a part of the Mint’s 225th anniversary celebration. These P-cents will be far from rare, though, with a combined 1.458 billion made through the first four months of this year alone.

Month-Over-Month

In the latest month-over month comparisons for coins used daily by Americans, production totals declined by:

• 34.6% for Lincoln cents,
• 33.6% for Jefferson nickels,
• 33.3% for Roosevelt dimes, and
• 30.9% for America the Beautiful Quarters.

Native American $1 Coins and Kennedy half-dollars are no longer ordered by Federal Reserve Banks but they are still made in circulating quality for coin collectors. In January, the U.S. Mint tends to strike both coins to expected amounts needed for the entire year. In April, however, the Mint did make 140,000 more 2017-P Native American dollars.

Here’s a summary of all circulating-quality coins produced last month:

US Mint Circulating Coin Production in April 2017

Production facilities in Denver and Philadelphia strike all of America’s coins for commerce. Last month, the Denver Mint made 458.68 million coins and the Philadelphia Mint produced 500.86 million coins.

Through the first four months of this year, the Denver Mint struck 2,544,060,000 coins and the Philadelphia Mint made 2,634,980,000 coins. That lifted their combined year to date total to 5,179,040,000 coins, which is a 1% decrease from the 5,231,300,000 coins minted during the same period in 2016.

This next table lists 2017 coin production totals by denomination and by U.S. Mint facility:

YTD 2017 Circulating Coin Production by Denomination

The 2017 monthly average of nearly 1.3 billion coins tracks over 12 months to about 15.5 billion coins. Last year, the U.S. Mint made more than 16 billion coins for circulation, registering as the second quickest for a year since 2001 after the more than 17 billion coins were made in 2015 — the most since 2001.

Mintages by Coin Design

To date this year, the U.S. Mint released three coins with one-year-only designs. They include the:

• 2017 Native American $1 Coin, released on Jan. 25.
• 2017 Effigy Mounds Quarter for Iowa, released on Feb. 6.
• 2017 Frederick Douglass Quarter for D.C., released on April 3.

Mintages for the Native American dollar at 1.54 million from Denver and 1.82 million from Philadelphia combine to 3.36 million coins. Last year’s design ended with splits of 2.1 million from Denver and 2.8 million from Philadelphia for 4.90 million coins.

Frederick Douglass quarter mintages should be available by June.

The following table offers a breakdown of this year’s mintages by coin design:

2017 Circulating Coin Production by Design

There are 327 million in quarters that the U.S. Mint hasn’t officially assigned to a design yet. These are a portion of the Frederick Douglass quarters.