The United States Mint produced more than 8.8 billion coins through the first seven months of this year, lifted by the over 1.25 billion coins minted in July.
Last month’s production pace was a tad quicker than in June, but sharply lower than a year earlier when the Mint made the most coins for a month than any since at least 2007 when CoinNews started tracking the data.
U.S. Mint figures also provide mintages for Missouri’s Ozark Riverways, the third of five 2017-dated quarters with unique designs.
First, here’s how July stacks up against other months in the past year:
2016 – 2017 July Coin Production Figures
| Month | Mintages | Rank |
| July 2017 | 1,254.74 M | 7 |
| June 2017 | 1,252.88 M | 8 |
| May 2017 | 1,156.34 M | 9 |
| April 2017 | 959.54 M | 12 |
| March 2017 | 1,445.8 M | 4 |
| February 2017 | 983.40 M | 10 |
| January 2017 | 1,790.30 M | 2 |
| December 2016 | 696.68 M | 13 |
| November 2016 | 976.04 M | 11 |
| October 2016 | 1,297.36 M | 6 |
| September 2016 | 1,573.70 M | 3 |
| August 2016 | 1,302.95 M | 5 |
| July 2016 | 1,807.20 M | 1 |
The Federal Reserve orders more 1-cent coins from the U.S. Mint than any other denominations even as it costs 1.5 cents to make and distribute each one. The agency produced 816.8 million Lincoln cents in June, for 65.1% 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 small part of the Mint’s 225th anniversary celebration.
These P-cents are far from rare, however, with more than 2.5 billion already made through the first seven months of this year.
Month-Over-Month
In the latest month-over month comparisons for coins used daily by Americans, July saw:
- 11.5% more Lincoln cents,
- 34.3% fewer Jefferson nickels,
- 13.7% fewer Roosevelt dimes, and
- 2.9% fewer 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 produced 140,000 more 2017-P Native American dollars.
Production facilities in Denver and Philadelphia manufacture all of America’s coins for commerce. In July, the Denver Mint made 678 million coins and the Philadelphia Mint made 576.74 million coins.
Here’s a summary of all circulating-quality coins produced during the month:
US Mint Circulating Coin Production in July 2017
| Denomination | Denver | Philadelphia | Total |
| Lincoln Cents | 467,600,000 | 349,200,000 | 816,800,000 |
| Jefferson Nickels | 42,000,000 | 48,240,000 | 90,240,000 |
| Roosevelt Dimes | 96,000,000 | 96,500,000 | 192,500,000 |
| ATB Quarters | 72,400,000 | 82,800,000 | 155,200,000 |
| Kennedy Half Dollars | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Native American $1s | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 678,000,000 | 576,740,000 | 1,254,740,000 |
YTD Totals
Year-to-date figures at 4,362,020,000 coins from Denver and 4,480,980,000 coins from Philadelphia total 8,843,000,000 coins, representing a 13.1% decline from the 10,170,680,000 coins minted by this time last year.
This next table lists 2017 coin production totals by denomination and by U.S. Mint facility:
YTD 2017 Circulating Coin Production by Denomination
| 1 ¢ | 5 ¢ | 10 ¢ | 25 ¢ | 50 ¢ | N.A. $1 | Total: | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denver | 2520.8M | 406.08M | 832M | 599.8M | 1.8M | 1.54M | 4362.02M |
| Philadelphia | 2545.6M | 413.76M | 856M | 662M | 1.8M | 1.82M | 4480.98M |
| Total | 5066.4M | 819.84M | 1688M | 1261.8M | 3.6M | 3.36M | 8843M |
This year’s monthly average of roughly 1.26 billion coins tracks over 12 months to about 15.16 billion coins. The U.S. Mint produced more than 16 billion coins in 2016 after making over 17 billion coins in 2015, the most since 2001.
Ozark Riverways Quarter Mintages
The U.S. Mint has issued four 2017-dated coins bearing 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.
- 2017 Ozark Riverways Quarter for Missouri, released on June 5.
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.
Mintages of Ozark Riverways quarters were reported for the first time, registering at 200 million from Denver and 202.4 million from Philadelphia for a combined 402.4 million. These amounts are nowhere near mintage lows for the quarter series.
The following table offers a breakdown of this year’s mintages by coin design:
2017 Circulating Coin Production by Design
| Denver | Philadelphia | Total | |
| Lincoln Cents | 2,520,800,000 | 2,545,600,000 | 5,066,400,000 |
| Jefferson Nickels | 406,080,000 | 413,760,000 | 819,840,000 |
| Roosevelt Dimes | 832,000,000 | 856,000,000 | 1,688,000,000 |
| Effigy Mounds National Monument Quarter | 210,800,000 | 271,200,000 | 482,000,000 |
| Frederick Douglass National Historic Site Quarter | 185,800,000 | 184,800,000 | 370,600,000 |
| Ozark National Scenic Riverways Quarter | 200,000,000 | 202,400,000 | 402,400,000 |
| Ellis Island National Monument Quarter | – | – | – |
| George Rogers Clark National Historical Park Quarter | – | – | – |
| Kennedy Half-Dollars | 1,800,000 | 1,800,000 | 3,600,000 |
| Native American $1 Coins | 1,540,000 | 1,820,000 | 3,360,000 |
| Total | 4,358,820,000 | 4,477,380,000 | 8,836,200,000 |
Production figures include 6.8 million quarters that haven’t been officially assigned to a design yet. These are likely early strikes of Ellis Island quarters. The 25-cent coin is scheduled to enter circulation beginning on Aug. 28.
anyone notice the HSN used car salesman last night selling ANACS PR 70 2016-W from Congrats set for $ 1499.00 ? I have several NGC 2016-W and 2017-S
Congrats sets PF-70 that I saw last night on ebay for $ 10-K…..A few minutes ago the same 2 coin set was at $ 15-K ! Whaaaaaaats up with dat ?????
This guy on HSN says the 2016-W Silver Eagle Proof 70 from the Congratulations set is the lowest mintage Silver Eagle at 5,965 ever, even less than the fabled 1995-W. And the unsuspecting non-numismatist gobbles them up at $ 1499.00 each. While it may be true when the Mint only stuffed a few thousand Congratulations cardboard sleeves with the Coin, what about the other five hundred thousand that were piled up in front of them? What happened to Truth in Advertising ? Had this moron at HSN mentioned how many of these Coins had actually been minted I doubt he’d… Read more »
sc Mc – hi*, are your price quwoat’s correct, is the decimal …….point in right place?. How many proof 70 *congrat sets*, can someone buy for $15,000.00. Did you buy$ your proof 70 sets at a good price$, ?
is there a need for 349,200,000 p mint mark *abe *lincoln cents, they could of minted more += *nickels, instead, way to much overkill for a first in 225 years p* mint mark cent, to bad.