U.S. Mint Produces Over 7.3 Billion Coins in First Half of 2021

The amount of U.S. coins produced for circulation through the first half of 2021 topped 7.3 billion, marking the quickest six-month start since the first half of 2017.

As for the shorter-term, headline figure for June, manufacturing figures from the United States Mint show that the government agency struck over 1.3 billion coins — down 8.5% from May and 15.5% lower than in June 2020.

Here’s how the month compares to others in the past year:

June 2020 to June 2021 Circulating Coin Production

The Federal Reserve orders more 1-cent coins than any other denomination even as data shows it costs 1.76 cents to make and distribute each one. The U.S. Mint made 782 million Lincoln cents last month, representing 58% of the circulating-quality coins produced.

Month-Over-Month

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

• 4.4% Lincoln cents,
• 3.9% Jefferson nickels,
• 22.4% Roosevelt dimes, and
• 7.5% quarter dollars.

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. Often in January, the U.S. Mint strikes both coins to the expected amounts needed for the entire year.

That wasn’t the case for 2021 halves. Mint data shows none were produced until February, and then only 1.6 million from Denver. Philadelphia finally showed up in March at 1.9 million. Then in April, amounts for both facilities advanced by 5.2 million from Denver and 2.9 million from Philadelphia. Finally in May, production increased by 900,000 from Denver and 300,000 from Philadelphia.

Together, the months add to a combined 12.8 million halves — the most for a year since 2001. Last year’s half-dollar ended with 3.4 million from Denver and 2.3 million from Philadelphia for a total of 5.7 million halves.

Published mintages of 2021 Native American dollars have remained unchanged since January with equal splits of 1.26 million from Denver and 1.26 million from Philadelphia for a combined 2.52 million coins. In contrast, the 2020 dollar saw 1.26 million for Denver and 1.4 million for Philadelphia for 2.66 million coins.

The U.S. Mint started selling rolls and bags of 2021 Native American dollars on Feb. 16. Rolls and bags of 2021 Kennedy half dollars debuted on May 11.

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

US Mint Circulating Coin Production in June 2021

U.S. Mint plants in Denver and Philadelphia manufacture all of America’s coins for commerce. Last month, the Denver Mint made 675.1 million coins and the Philadelphia Mint made 673.5 million coins for the combined 1,348,600,000 coins.

Coin Production in First Half of 2021

Through the first half of this year, the Denver Mint has struck 3,879,140,000 coins and the Philadelphia Mint has made 3,480,560,000 coins for a combined 7,359,700,000 coins, which is 12.8% more than the 6,523,680,000 coins minted through the first half of 2020.

This next table lists 2021 coin production totals by denomination and by U.S. Mint facility:

YTD 2021 Circulating Coin Production by Denomination

If the current production pace stretched through to December, the annual mintage for 2021 would top 14.7 billion coins. The U.S. Mint made over 14.77 billion coins for circulation in 2020.

Mintages by Unique Design

In addition to the Native American dollar, the U.S. Mint released (on Feb. 8) another coin with a one-year-only design — the 2021 Tuskegee Airmen quarter for Alabama. Its mintage remained unchanged in June.

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

2021 Circulating Coin Production by Design

There are 658.6 million in quarters that the U.S. Mint has yet to officially assign to a design. These are 2021 George Washington Crossing the Delaware quarters. Hundreds of millions more of them will be made until the first American Women quarters are issued in 2022.