US Mint Coin Production Tops 1.4 Billion in July; Voyageurs Quarter Mintages Published

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Photo of 2018-D Uncirculated Voyageurs National Park Quarter - Reverse
A CoinNews photo of a Denver-minted 2018-D Voyageurs National Park quarter. The U.S. Mint published mintages for the quarter in their July production report.

U.S. coin production rallied in July to a six-month high and ended above the 1 billion level for a third straight month, according to the latest manufacturing figures from the United States Mint.

U.S. Mint data also provided mintages for Minnesota’s Voyageurs National Park quarter, the third of five 2018-dated quarters with unique designs.

In headline figures, the Mint struck more than 8.3 billion coins through the first seven months of this year, boosted by the more than 1.4 billion coins produced in July. Here’s how the month compared against others months in the past year:

July 2017 to July 2018 Circulating Coin Production

Month Mintages Rank
July 2018 1,403.16 M 3
June 2018 1,198.34 M 8
May 2018 1,291.76 M 6
April 2018 878.74 M 12
March 2018 902.924 M 11
February 2018 1,066.51 M 10
January 2018 1,601.54 M 1
December 2017 762.86 M 13
November 2017 1,346.26 M 4
October 2017 1,423.54 M 2
September 2017 1,316.22 M 5
August 2017 1,167.48 M 9
July 2017 1,254.74 M 7

 

The Federal Reserve always orders more 1-cent coins than any other denomination even as it costs the U.S. Mint 1.82 cents to make and distribute each one. The Mint struck 782 million Lincoln cents in July, representing 55.7% of the circulating-quality coins produced for the month.

Month-Over-Month

In month-over month comparisons for coins used daily by Americans, production totals in July saw:

  • 4.7% more Lincoln cents,
  • 116.7% more Jefferson nickels,
  • 42.9% more Roosevelt dimes, and
  • 3.5% fewer America the Beautiful quarter dollars.

The amount of dimes minted, at 295 million, was the most since 300 million were made in March 2017.

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 the expected amounts needed for the entire year.

Higher Kennedy Half-Dollar Mintages

However, the Mint in February did produce 1.8 million more 2018-D Kennedy half-dollars. Then in March it struck another 3.2 million from Denver and 1.2 million more for Philadelphia. None was pressed in April, May, June, or July.

Mintages for the half-dollar are at 5.4 million from Denver and 4.8 million from Philadelphia for a combined 10.2 million coins — the most since 2001 and more than doubling 2017. Last year’s release ended with splits of 2.9 million from Denver and 1.8 million from Philadelphia for a combined 4.7 million coins.

Here’s a summary of all coins produced for circulation last month:

US Mint Circulating Coin Production in July 2018

Denomination Denver Philadelphia Total
Lincoln Cents 362,000,000 420,000,000 782,000,000
Jefferson Nickels 81,120,000 80,640,000 161,760,000
Roosevelt Dimes 137,500,000 157,500,000 295,000,000
ATB Quarters 67,400,000 97,000,000 164,400,000
Kennedy Half Dollars 0 0 0
Native American $1s 0 0 0
Total 648,020,000 755,140,000 1,403,160,000

 

U.S. Mint facilities in Denver and Philadelphia manufacture all of America’s coins for commerce. Last month, the Denver Mint made 648.02 million coins and the Philadelphia Mint made 755.14 million coins.

YTD Totals

Year-to-date figures at 4,028,300,000 coins from Denver and 4,314,674,000 coins from Philadelphia total to 8,342,974,000 coins, marking a 5.7% reduction from the 8,843,000,000 coins minted through the same time last year.

This next table lists 2018 coin production totals by denomination and by U.S. Mint facility:

YTD 2018 Circulating Coin Production by Denomination

1 ¢ 5 ¢ 10 ¢ 25 ¢ 50 ¢ N.A. $1 Total:
Denver 2416M 382.8M 625M 597M 5.4M 2.1M 4028.3M
Philadelphia 2578.8M 386.16M 691M 652.514M 4.8M 1.4M 4314.674M
Total 4994.8M 768.96M 1316M 1249.514M 10.2M 3.5M 8342.974M

 

The 2018 monthly average of about 1.19 billion coins tracks over 12 months to roughly 14.3 billion coins. In 2017, the U.S. Mint produced over 14.8 billion coins for circulation — the third quickest for a year since 2001, after the more than 16 billion coins were made in 2017 and the over 17 billion coins were made in 2015.

Mintages by Unique Design

The U.S. Mint so far this year has released five 2018-dated coins with one-year-only designs. They include the:

Mintages for the 2018 Native American dollars are 2.1 million from Denver and 1.4 million from Philadelphia for a combined 3.5 million coins. Last year’s release ended with splits of 1.54 million from Denver and 1.82 million from Philadelphia for 3.36 million coins.

Production figures for July include 8.4 million quarters that have yet to be officially assigned to a design. These are likely a portion of Cumberland Island quarters that started circulating on Aug. 27.

This last table offers a breakdown of this year’s mintages by coin design:

2018 Circulating Coin Production by Design

  Denver Philadelphia Total
Lincoln Cents 2,416,000,000 2,578,800,000 4,994,800,000
Jefferson Nickels 382,800,000 386,160,000 768,960,000
Roosevelt Dimes 625,000,000 691,000,000 1,316,000,000
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Quarter (MI) 182,600,000 186,714,000 369,314,000
Apostle Islands National Lakeshore Quarter (WI) 213,400,000 223,200,000 436,600,000
Voyageurs National Park Quarter (MN) 197,800,000 237,400,000 435,200,000
Cumberland Island National Seashore Quarter (GA) 0 0 0
Block Island National Wildlife Refuge Quarter (RI) 0 0 0
Kennedy Half-Dollars 5,400,000 4,800,000 10,200,000
Native American $1 Coins 2,100,000 1,400,000 3,500,000
Total 4,025,100,000 4,309,474,000 8,334,574,000

 

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