Coin production at the United States Mint accelerated in August for the second straight month, though the total output stayed under 1 billion coins for the twelfth consecutive month after previously surpassing that mark for eight months in a row.
In August, the U.S. Mint produced 405.2 million coins for circulation, consisting solely of cents and quarters. This reflects a 72.3% increase compared to the previous month but a 60.7% decrease from August 2023. For the fourth time this year, and the second consecutive month, the Mint did not report any production of nickels or dimes.
Here’s how the month compares to others in the past year:
August 2023 to August 2024 Circulating Coin Production
| Month | Mintages | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| August 2024 | 405.20 M | 7 |
| July 2024 | 235.20 M | 11 |
| June 2024 | 168.22 M | 12 |
| May 2024 | 396.08 M | 8 |
| April 2024 | 368.20 M | 10 |
| March 2024 | 332.70 M | 9 |
| February 2024 | 644.86 M | 3 |
| January 2024 | 755.98 M | 2 |
| December 2023 | 151.80 M | 13 |
| November 2023 | 604.409 M | 4 |
| October 2023 | 501.911 M | 6 |
| September 2023 | 546.03 M | 5 |
| August 2023 | 1,030.38 M | 1 |
The primary mission of the U.S. Mint is to manufacture coins in response to public demand. The Mint produces, sells, and subsequently delivers circulating coins to Federal Reserve Banks and their coin terminals to support their services to commercial banks and other financial institutions.
Even though it costs the Mint 3.07 cents to make and distribute each 1-cent coin, the Federal Reserve always orders more of them than any other denomination. In August, the Mint produced 254.4 million Lincoln cents, representing 62.8% of all circulating-quality coins minted for the month, marking a 210.2% increase from July’s total.
Meanwhile, quarter production edged up by 0.5% compared to the prior month.
Mintages of Native American Dollars and Kennedy Halves
The U.S. Mint also strikes other coins in circulating quality, namely half dollars and dollars. Native American $1 coins are no longer ordered by the Federal Reserve, but they are still made in circulating quality for coin collectors. The same was true for Kennedy half dollars until recently — years 2021, 2022, and 2023.
Usually, in January, the U.S. Mint produces both denominations to the expected amounts needed for the entire year. Nonetheless, this has not been the case for Kennedy halves in each of the three prior years, as the Federal Reserve unexpectedly ordered millions more for circulation — roughly 12 million, 7 million, and 18 million in fiscal years 2021, 2022, and 2023.
It has not been disclosed whether any 2024 Kennedy half dollars have been produced for general circulation, although it is likely. Half dollar production figures changed in January (+5.7 million), March (+ 1.9 million), April (+2.6 million), May (+3.2 million), June (+4.9 million), and July (+3.2 million), with the latest results showing 9.9 million coins from Philadelphia and 11.6 million from Denver, totaling 21.5 million. These figures compare to production runs in 2023 totaling 27.8 million from Denver and 30.2 million from Philadelphia, amounting to 58 million coins — the highest since 1983, when it reached 66.6 million.
Unlike the usual practice, the mintages of the Native American dollar were adjusted in February instead of being completed in January. This change was prompted by the absence of reported minting activity for the dollar in Denver throughout January. Since February, the total dollar mintage has remained at 2.24 million coins, with 1.12 million each from Denver and Philadelphia, matching the 2023 total.
On Jan. 29, the U.S. Mint started selling Denver- and Philadelphia-minted rolls, bags, and boxes of 2024 Native American dollars. On April 23, the bureau started offering rolls and bags of circulating 2024 Kennedy halves.
This next table shows 2024 circulating coin mintages by production facility, denomination, and design.
U.S. Mint Circulating Coin Production in August 2024
| Denver | Philadelphia | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lincoln Cent | 87,200,000 | 167,200,000 | 254,400,000 |
| Jefferson Nickel | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Roosevelt Dime | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Quarters | 53,800,000 | 97,000,000 | 150,800,000 |
| Kennedy Half-Dollar | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Native American $1 Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 141,000,000 | 264,200,000 | 405,200,000 |
In the overall production totals for July, the Denver Mint produced 141 million coins, while the Philadelphia Mint produced 264.2 million coins, resulting in the combined total of 405.2 million coins.
YTD Totals
Year-to-date, the Denver Mint has struck 1,642,200,000 coins, and the Philadelphia Mint has made 1,664,240,000 coins, bringing the total to 3,306,440,000 coins — the weakest eighth-month start since CoinNews began reporting on monthly production figures in 2011. This is 65.5% fewer than the 9,577,520,000 coins manufactured during the same period in 2023.
If the current production pace were to continue through December, the annual mintage for 2024 would reach 4.96 billion coins. In comparison, the U.S. Mint manufactured over 11.38 billion coins for circulation in 2023, marking the lowest output since 2012.
This next table lists coin production totals by denomination and by U.S. Mint facility:
YTD 2024 Circulating Coin Production by Denomination
| 1 ¢ | 5 ¢ | 10 ¢ | 25 ¢ | 50 ¢ | N.A. $1 | Total: | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denver | 867.6M | 32.88M | 138M | 591M | 11.6M | 1.12M | 1642.2M |
| Philadelphia | 902M | 36.72M | 92.5M | 622M | 9.9M | 1.12M | 1664.24M |
| Total | 1769.6M | 69.6M | 230.5M | 1213M | 21.5M | 2.24M | 3306.44M |
2024 Quarter Mintages
In addition to the 2024 Native American dollar with its one-year-only design, the U.S. Mint has also released the first three of five issues for 2024 from their four-year program of American Women Quarters™. These three coins represent the 11th through 13th releases in the series, each featuring a unique design.
The Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray quarter, the first quarter design for this year, began circulating on Jan. 2. On Feb. 1, the Mint made rolls and bags of the quarter available for purchase by the public. First reported in March figures and unchanged since, a total of 354.2 million Murray quarters were minted, with 185.8 million coming from Denver and 168.4 million from Philadelphia.
Patsy Takemoto Mink quarters entered circulation on March 25, and on March 28, the U.S. Mint began selling rolls and bags of them to the public. The latest figures show Patsy Takemoto Mink quarter mintages at 187.2 million from Denver and 210.2 million from Philadelphia, for a combined 397.4 million.
Dr. Mary Edwards Walker quarters entered circulation on June 3, and on June 17, the U.S. Mint started selling rolls and bags of them to the public. The latest figures show Dr. Mary Edwards quarter mintages at 159.4 million from Denver and 141.2 million from Philadelphia, for a combined 300.6 million. This marks the lowest mintage total for any quarter in the series to date. In terms of production by facility across the series, both the 2024-P and the 2024-D also rank as the scarcest.
Of the total production year to date, 160.8 million quarters have not yet been officially assigned a design by the U.S. Mint. This represents a portion of Celia Cruz quarters, with more still to be minted. Celia Cruz quarters entered circulation on Aug. 5, with U.S. Mint rolls and bags of them offered to the public on Aug. 7.
2024 Circulating Coin Production by Design
This last table offers a breakdown of this year’s mintages that have been reported by coin design, including the first three quarters:
| Denver | Philadelphia | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lincoln Cent | 867,600,000 | 902,000,000 | 1,769,600,000 |
| Jefferson Nickel | 32,880,000 | 36,720,000 | 69,600,000 |
| Roosevelt Dime | 138,000,000 | 92,500,000 | 230,500,000 |
| Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray Quarter | 185,800,000 | 168,400,000 | 354,200,000 |
| Patsy Takemoto Mink Quarter | 187,200,000 | 210,200,000 | 397,400,000 |
| Dr. Mary Edwards Walker Quarter | 159,400,000 | 141,200,000 | 300,600,000 |
| Celia Cruz Quarter | – | – | – |
| Zitkala-Ša Quarter (expected release on Oct. 28) | – | – | – |
| Kennedy Half-Dollar | 11,600,000 | 9,900,000 | 21,500,000 |
| Native American $1 Coin | 1,120,000 | 1,120,000 | 2,240,000 |
| Total | 1,583,600,000 | 1,562,040,000 | 3,145,640,000 |
“The primary mission of the U.S. Mint is to manufacture coins in response to public demand.”
Oops. I suppose that means we collectors can never make the claim “We’re #1”.
Wanna bet all of those AI Dollar Coin Rolls going for face value and which were almost instantaneously whisked off the Mint’s Greatest Sale of This Or Any Other Century Site yesterday thanks to Big Boy vacuum scoopers have already been broken up into singles and are now being sold by various and assorted secondary sources at those sellers’ typically usurious prices?
Why not crank out hundreds of millions more of the most expensive to mint as compared to face value coins, aka cents, so that all of those hungry coin jars and starving sidewalks all across America can be fed?
I’m not sure I understand the need for so gosh darn many cents – they made 25x as many cents as nickels so far this year – that implies strongly that nickels are circulating just fine, but cents are just vanishing. Interestingly the quarter production is not far behind cents. when you make change you don’t need to give out more than 4 cents, 1 nickel, 2 dimes and/or 3 quarters, so that should roughly be the ratio that stores need on hand to make change. and a few decades ago, that is more or less what the mint produced.… Read more »