Production of U.S. coins for circulation slowed in April and from a year ago, according to United States Mint figures released on Tuesday, May 10.
The data also shows mintages of the 2016 Ronald Reagan dollar, the last release in the U.S. Mint’s series of Presidential $1 Coins which honors former and deceased U.S. Presidents.
Coining presses in April struck nearly 1.34 billion in cents, nickels, dimes, quarters, and dollars. The total marks decreases of 7.4% from March and 21.1% from the same month a year earlier.
The following table offers circulating coin totals by month and their rankings over the past year.
2015 – 2016 April Coin Production Figures
| Month | Mintages | Rank |
| April 2016 | 1,339.06 M | 9 |
| March 2016 | 1,446.14 M | 8 |
| February 2016 | 930.26 M | 12 |
| January 2016 | 1,515.84 M | 5 |
| December 2015 | 707.79 M | 13 |
| November 2015 | 1,245.73 M | 10 |
| October 2015 | 1,757.64 M | 1 |
| September 2015 | 1,476.37 M | 6 |
| August 2015 | 1,142.46 M | 11 |
| July 2015 | 1,665.76 M | 4 |
| June 2015 | 1,673.95 M | 3 |
| May 2015 | 1,459.86 M | 7 |
| April 2015 | 1,696.56 M | 2 |
The cost to make and distribute each Lincoln cent is 1.43 cents (in FY2015), making them money losers for the government, but the Federal Reserve always orders more of them than any other denomination. In April, the U.S. Mint produced 754 million cents, which is 56.3% of the circulating-quality coins made for the month.
In the latest month-over-month production comparisons for coins used every day by Americans, April saw:
- 20% fewer Lincoln cents,
- 7.5% more Jefferson nickels,
- 0.4% fewer Roosevelt dimes, and
- 63.1% more America the Beautiful Quarters.
Presidential $1 Coins, Native American $1 Coins and Kennedy half-dollars are no longer ordered by Federal Reserve Banks but the Mint continues to make them in circulating quality for coin collectors.
In January, the U.S. Mint struck Native American $1 Coins to the expected amounts needed for the entire year. That is usually how it works for Kennedy half-dollars but in February another 400,000 were pressed at the Philadelphia Mint and then in March another 400,000 were made at the Denver Mint. The agency in April continued to strike Presidential $1 Coins to support the final 2016 design featuring Ronald Reagan.
Here’s a summary of the circulating-quality coins produced last month:
US Mint Circulating Coin Production in April 2016
| Denomination | Denver | Philadelphia | Total |
| Lincoln Cents | 437,600,000 | 316,400,000 | 754,000,000 |
| Jefferson Nickels | 81,120,000 | 66,240,000 | 147,360,000 |
| Roosevelt Dimes | 119,000,000 | 120,000,000 | 239,000,000 |
| 2016 ATB Quarters | 113,600,000 | 84,400,000 | 198,000,000 |
| Kennedy Half Dollars | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Native American $1s | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Presidential Dollars | 700,000 | 0 | 700,000 |
| Total | 752,020,000 | 587,040,000 | 1,339,060,000 |
U.S. Mint facilities in Denver and Philadelphia manufacture all of America’s coins for commerce. Last month, the Denver Mint struck 752.02 million coins and the Philadelphia Mint produced 587.04 million coins.
Through the first four months of 2016, the Denver Mint made 2,558,200,000 coins and the Philadelphia Mint made 2,673,100,000 coins. That lifts the year to date total for both plants to 5,231,300,000 coins, representing a 11.6% decline from the 5,917,140,000 coins minted during the same period in 2015.
This next table lists 2016 coin production totals by denomination and by U.S. Mint facility:
YTD 2016 Circulating Coin Production by Denomination
| 1 ¢ | 5 ¢ | 10 ¢ | 25 ¢ | 50 ¢ | N.A. $1 | Pres $1 | Total: | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denver | 1534.8M | 248.64M | 438.5M | 318.2M | 2.1M | 2.1M | 13.86M | 2558.2M |
| Philadelphia | 1600.4M | 260.16M | 466.5M | 324.2M | 2.1M | 2.8M | 16.94M | 2673.1M |
| Total | 3135.2M | 508.8M | 905M | 642.4M | 4.2M | 4.9M | 30.8M | 5231.3M |
This year’s monthly average of 1.3 billion coins tracks over 12 months to nearly 15.7 billion coins. Last year, the U.S. Mint delivered more than 17 billion coins for circulation, representing a sixth straight year of growth and the quickest annual production pace since the 2001.
Ronald Reagan $1 Coin Mintages
Mintages of Ronald Reagan Presidential $1 Coins are 4.48 million from Denver and 6.02 million from Philadelphia for a combined 10.5 million.
The overall total matches the immediate prior release featuring Gerald R. Ford; is 700,000 higher than the first 2016-dated dollar commemorating Richard M. Nixon; and lies in the middle of last year’s issues which registered mintages ranging from 8.4 million for Truman dollars to 12.04 million in LBJ dollars.
2016 Reagan dollars will make their debut in July.
The following table offers a breakdown of this year’s mintages by coin design:
2016 Circulating Coin Production by Design
| Denver | Philadelphia | Total | |
| Lincoln Cents | 1,534,800,000 | 1,600,400,000 | 3,135,200,000 |
| Jefferson Nickels | 248,640,000 | 260,160,000 | 508,800,000 |
| Roosevelt Dimes | 438,500,000 | 466,500,000 | 905,000,000 |
| Shawnee National Forest Quarter | 151,800,000 | 155,600,000 | 307,400,000 |
| Cumberland Gap National Historical Park Quarter | – | – | – |
| Harpers Ferry National Historical Park Quarter | – | – | – |
| Theodore Roosevelt National Park Quarter | – | – | – |
| Fort Moultrie Quarter | – | – | – |
| Kennedy Half Dollars | 2,100,000 | 2,100,000 | 4,200,000 |
| Native American $1 | 2,100,000 | 2,800,000 | 4,900,000 |
| Richard M. Nixon $1 | 4,340,000 | 5,460,000 | 9,800,000 |
| Gerald R. Ford $1 | 5,040,000 | 5,460,000 | 10,500,000 |
| Ronald Reagan $1 | 4,480,000 | 6,020,000 | 10,500,000 |
| Total | 2,391,800,000 | 2,504,500,000 | 4,896,300,000 |
In subtracting the totals by coin design from the overall production figures by denomination, there is one difference — mintages of America the Beautiful Quarters are higher by 335 million. These are most of the Cumberland Gap National Historical Park Quarters for Kentucky. Cumberland Gap quarters started to enter circulation in early April.
Coin production figures in this coin news article are based on data aggregated from the U.S. Mint webpage at: http://www.usmint.gov/about_the_mint/?action=ProductionFigures.
