US Mint Produces 14.8 Billion Coins for Circulation in 2017

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US Coins and George Rogers Clark Quarter
The U.S. Mint struck more than 14.8 billion coins for circulation in 2017. It also reported mintages for the final 2017-dated America the Beautiful quarter dollar honoring Indiana’s George Rogers Clark National Historical Park.

Coin production in the United States slowed for a second straight year after peaking to a 14-year high, annual figures from the U.S. Mint show.

In 2017, production facilities in Denver and Philadelphia shipped over 14.8 billion coins to Federal Reserve Banks for distribution into the economy, marking a 7.2% decrease from the more than 16 billion coins made in 2016. A year earlier, demand for coinage bounced to such a height that the U.S. Mint expanded operations and hired more people. That year — with over 17 billion coins struck — marked a sixth straight for growth.

That said, the production pace in 2017 was easily the third quickest for a year since 2001, and 318.8% faster than in 2009 when production hit bottom at just over 3.5 billion coins.

Here is a summary of the annual coin production levels adjusted on a per coin basis from 2016 to 2017:

US Mint Annual Coin Production (2017 vs 2016)

  Year 2016 Year 2017 2017 Unit Gain / Loss 2017 % Gain / Loss
Cents 9,118,400,000 8,634,020,000 -484,380,000 -5.3%
Nickels 1,546,560,000 1,373,280,000 -173,280,000 -11.2%
Dimes 2,954,000,000 2,728,000,000 -226,000,000 -7.7%
Quarters 2,356,030,000 2,116,000,000 -240,030,000 -10.2%
Half Dollars 4,200,000 4,700,000 500,000 11.9%
Native American $1 4,900,000 3,360,000 -1,540,000 -31.4%
Presidential $1s 33,320,000 0 -33,320,000 -100.0%
Total 16,017,410,000 14,859,360,000 -1,158,050,000 -7.2%

 

Mintages of Kennedy half-dollars and Native American dollars are smaller than other coins because they are no longer produced for circulation — Federal Reserve Banks do not order them from the U.S. Mint. The two coins are now made only for collector products. Also, Presidential dollars were not made in 2017 because the 10-year series ended in 2016 with the final three dollars honoring Nixon, Ford and Reagan.

All U.S. coins for circulation originate from either the Denver Mint or Philadelphia Mint. Last year, the facility in Denver made over 7.2 billion coins while the plant in Philadelphia made nearly 7.6 billion coins.

In unit totals and keeping with practice, Lincoln cents won among denominations with more than 8.6 billion made, representing 58.1% of the 2017 production total. Ironically, each costs 1.5 cents to strike and distribute so the most made U.S. coin is a money-loser.

2017-P Lincoln cents
For the first time in history and only in 2017, Lincoln cents from the Philadelphia Mint carry a ‘P’ mint mark

On the topic of Lincoln cents, 2017-dated circulating editions from the Philadelphia Mint bear a ‘P’ mint mark for the first time in history. The mark was a one-year-only embellishment, added as a part of the U.S. Mint’s 225th anniversary celebration. More than 4.36 billion of them were made.

This next table shows 2017 circulating coin mintages by production facility, denomination and design.

2017 Circulating Coin Production by Design

  Denver Philadelphia Total
Lincoln Cents 4,272,800,000 4,361,220,000 8,634,020,000
Jefferson Nickels 663,120,000 710,160,000 1,373,280,000
Roosevelt Dimes 1,290,500,000 1,437,500,000 2,728,000,000
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 200,000,000 203,000,000 403,000,000
Ellis Island National Monument Quarter 254,000,000 234,000,000 488,000,000
George Rogers Clark National Historical Park Quarter 180,800,000 191,600,000 372,400,000
Kennedy Half-Dollars 2,900,000 1,800,000 4,700,000
Native American $1 Coins 1,540,000 1,820,000 3,360,000
Total 7,262,260,000 7,597,100,000 14,859,360,000

 

Mintages of the U.S. Mint’s program of America the Beautiful Quarters® had grown stronger each year until 2016. The overall production of quarters slowed again in 2017 with a tad more than 2.11 billion million made, marking a 10.2% decline from 2016.

Annual quarter mintages since the start of the series include:

  • 347 million in 2010,
  • 391.2 million in 2011,
  • 568 million in 2012,
  • 1.455 billion in 2013,
  • 1.58 billion in 2014,
  • 2.99 billion in 2015, and
  • 2.35 billion in 2016.

Five different quarter designs launch each year. The America the Beautiful Quarters for 2017 include:

George Rogers Clark Quarter Mintages

Official mintages for Indiana’s George Rogers Clark National Historical Park quarters were reported for the first time, registering at 180.8 million from Denver and 191.6 million from Philadelphia for a combined 372.4 million. The ‘D’ minted quarter ranks lowest in the series for 2017, yet its total is more than 8x higher than the scarcest piece.

Forty different quarter designs have been released from 2010 to 2017. The 2016 Harpers Ferry National Historical quarter for West Virginia remains the mintage leader by design at 858.63 million quarters. The 2012 Chaco Culture National Historical Park quarter for New Mexico remains at the bottom of the production charts with a total mintage of 44 million. The scarcest America the Beautiful quarter dollar issue by production facility is the Denver Mint-struck 2012-D Acadia National Park quarter at 21.6 million. The ‘P’ and ‘D’ Chaco Culture quarters follow with each at 22 million.

The U.S. Mint has made more than 11.8 billion America the Beautiful Quarters since the series start in 2010. Each quarter honors a different national park or national site in the United States or its territories. Here is a breakdown of production totals by quarter design and coin production facility:

2010 – 2017 America the Beautiful Quarters Mintages

  Denver Philadelphia Total
2010 Hot Springs National Park 34,000,000 35,600,000 69,600,000
2010 Yellowstone National Park 34,800,000 33,600,000 68,400,000
2010 Yosemite National Park 34,800,000 35,200,000 70,000,000
2010 Grand Canyon National Park 35,400,000 34,800,000 70,200,000
2010 Mount Hood National Forest 34,400,000 34,400,000 68,800,000
2011 Gettysburg National Military Park 30,400,000 30,800,000 61,200,000
2011 Glacier National Park 31,200,000 30,400,000 61,600,000
2011 Olympic National Park 30,600,000 30,400,000 61,000,000
2011 Vicksburg National Military Park 33,400,000 30,800,000 64,200,000
2011 Chickasaw National Recreation Area 69,400,000 73,800,000 143,200,000
2012 El Yunque Quarter 25,000,000 25,800,000 50,800,000
2012 Chaco Culture Quarter 22,000,000 22,000,000 44,000,000
2012 Acadia Quarter 21,606,000 24,800,000 46,406,000
2012 Hawai’i Quarter 78,600,000 46,200,000 124,800,000
2012 Denali Quarter 166,600,000 135,400,000 302,000,000
2013 White Mountain Quarter 107,600,000 68,800,000 176,400,000
2013 Perry’s Victory Quarter 131,600,000 107,800,000 239,400,000
2013 Great Basin Quarter 141,400,000 122,400,000 263,800,000
2013 Fort McHenry Quarter 151,400,000 120,000,000 271,400,000
2013 Mount Rushmore Quarter 272,400,000 231,800,000 504,200,000
2014 Great Smoky Mountains Quarter 99,400,000 73,200,000 172,600,000
2014 Shenandoah National Park Quarter 197,800,000 112,800,000 310,600,000
2014 Arches National Park Quarter 251,400,000 214,200,000 465,600,000
2014 Great Sand Dunes Quarter 171,800,000 159,600,000 331,400,000
2014 Everglades National Park Quarter 142,400,000 157,601,200 300,001,200
2015 Homestead National Monument of America Quarter 248,600,000 214,400,000 463,000,000
2015 Kisatchie National Forest Quarter 379,600,000 397,200,000 776,800,000
2015 Blue Ridge Parkway Quarter 505,200,000 325,616,000 830,816,000
2015 Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge Quarter 206,400,000 275,000,000 481,400,000
2015 Saratoga National Historical Park Quarter 215,800,000 223,000,000 438,800,000
2016 Shawnee National Forest Quarter 151,800,000 155,600,000 307,400,000
2016 Cumberland Gap National Historical Park Quarter 223,200,000 215,400,000 438,600,000
2016 Harpers Ferry National Historical Park Quarter 424,000,000 434,630,000 858,630,000
2016 Theodore Roosevelt National Park Quarter 223,200,000 231,600,000 454,800,000
2016 Fort Moultrie Quarter 142,200,000 154,400,000 296,600,000
2017 Effigy Mounds National Monument Quarter 210,800,000 271,200,000 482,000,000
2017 Frederick Douglass National Historic Site Quarter 185,800,000 184,800,000 370,600,000
2017 Ozark National Scenic Riverways Quarter 200,000,000 203,000,000 403,000,000
2017 Ellis Island National Monument Quarter 254,000,000 234,000,000 488,000,000
2017 George Rogers Clark National Historical Park Quarter 180,800,000 191,600,000 372,400,000
Total 6,100,806,000 5,703,647,200 11,804,453,200

 

Coin Production in December 2017

December is traditionally a weak coin production month as the U.S. Mint readies its tooling for the next year’s coins. Some Decembers have actually come in at or near flat for production amounts. Last December was fairly strong historically with a production of 762.86 million coins, up 9.5% from December 2016. Compared to November, the production level fell 43.3%.

Here’s how the month ranks against others in the past year:

2016 – 2017 December Coin Production Figures

Month Mintages Rank
December 2017 762.86 M 12
November 2017 1,346.26 M 4
October 2017 1,423.54 M 3
September 2017 1,316.22 M 5
August 2017 1,167.48 M 8
July 2017 1,254.74 M 6
June 2017 1,252.88 M 7
May 2017 1,156.34 M 9
April 2017 959.54 M 11
March 2017 1,445.8 M 2
February 2017 983.40 M 10
January 2017 1,790.30 M 1
December 2016 696.68 M 13

 

Production for the month was limited to the four main denominations, the cent, nickel, dime and quarter. This last table shows how many of them were made in December.

US Mint Circulating Coin Production in December 2017

Denomination Denver Philadelphia Total
Lincoln Cents 195,600,000 195,600,000 391,200,000
Jefferson Nickels 32,400,000 39,360,000 71,760,000
Roosevelt Dimes 61,500,000 81,000,000 142,500,000
ATB Quarters 74,400,000 83,000,000 157,400,000
Kennedy Half Dollars 0 0 0
Native American $1s 0 0 0
Total 363,900,000 398,960,000 762,860,000

 

Coin production figures in this coin news article are based on data aggregated from the Mint’s webpage at: https://www.usmint.gov/circulating-coins-production.

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