Far fewer American coins were struck for circulation in August than in any month since February, the latest coin production figures from the U.S. Mint show.
In other interesting revelations, mintages for the recently released Hawaii Volcanoes quarter are sharply higher than any other America the Beautiful Quarter but one.
655.55 million coins were struck for circulation last month, marking a 27.7% fall from the more than 906 million produced in July. The amount was higher than a year ago, however, as the table of monthly rankings highlights.
2011-2012 August Coin Production Figures / Mintages
| Month | Mintages | Rank |
| August 2012 | 655.55M | 10 |
| July 2012 | 906.62M | 2 |
| June 2012 | 975.59M | 1 |
| May 2012 | 819.86 M | 4 |
| April 2012 | 858.04 M | 3 |
| March 2012 | 781.70 M | 7 |
| February 2012 | 579.86 M | 12 |
| January 2012 | 802.50 M | 6 |
| December 2011 | 431.78 M | 13 |
| November 2011 | 715.96 M | 8 |
| October 2011 | 690.66 M | 9 |
| September 2011 | 811.42 M | 5 |
| August 2011 | 604.54 M | 11 |
Coin production declined across every denomination struck in August with the pace down:
- 23.3% for Lincoln cents,
- 39.5% for Jefferson nickels,
- 27.0% for Roosevelt dimes, and
- 49.6% for America the Beautiful Quarters
Lincoln cents accounted for 69.1% of the entire monthly production total, which is a bit higher than typical.
U.S. Mint facilities located in Philadelphia and in Denver are tasked with producing all of the coins used in American circulation for commerce. Snapping a five-month winning streak, Denver’s total output finally fell below Philadelphia’s. A breakdown follows for the types of coins each facility produced last month.
US Mint Coin Production in August 2012
| Denomination | Denver | Philadelphia | Total |
| Lincoln Cents | 182,800,000 | 270,400,000 | 453,200,000 |
| Jefferson Nickels | 30,240,000 | 13,760,000 | 44,000,000 |
| Roosevelt Dimes | 49,000,000 | 67,500,000 | 116,500,000 |
| 2012 ATB Quarters | 31,000,000 | 10,800,000 | 41,800,000 |
| Kennedy Half Dollars | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Native American $1s | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Presidential Dollars | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 293,040,000 | 362,460,000 | 655,500,000 |
U.S. Mint presses have been quiet for Kennedy halves since January and Native American $1 coins since February. These coins, while minted in circulating quality, are struck only to meet the demand of coin collectors as they are not placed into circulation. The Presidential $1 coins joined the collectible-only group this year.
Through the first eight months of 2012, circulating coin production totaled 6,379,660,000, with splits of 3,116,130,000 for Denver and 3,263,540,000 for Philadelphia. The combined total represents a 14.9% increase over the 5,550,530,000 coins produced through the first eight months in 2011.
This year’s monthly average of more than 797 million coins would place the 2012 annual coin production level at more than 9.5 billion coins.
Hawaii Volcanoes Quarter Mintages
As mentioned, mintages for the Hawaii Volcanoes quarter were revealed. Splits were 78,600,000 million for Denver and 46,200,000 million for Philadelphia for a total of 124,800,000. In an interesting point, the lopsided difference between the two facilities is atypical.
Hawaii Volcanoes quarter mintages are more than double that of any previous 2012-dated quarter. In fact, the amount is higher than any in the series of 2010-2012 America the Beautiful Quarters except for the 2011 Chickasaw National Recreation Area quarter at 143,200,000.
While the U.S. Mint reserves the right to produce more quarters of a current year’s design, it has tended not to once mintages have been published (unlike this year’s Presidential $1 coins).
The following grid offers 2012 mintage figures by coin design.
US Mint 2012 Coin Production / Mintages by Design
| Denver | Philadelphia | 2012 Total | |
| Lincoln Cents | 1,968,000,000 | 2,199,200,000 | 4,167,200,000 |
| Jefferson Nickels | 396,480,000 | 326,640,000 | 723,120,000 |
| Roosevelt Dimes | 588,500,000 | 586,500,000 | 1,175,000,000 |
| El Yunque Quarter | 25,000,000 | 25,800,000 | 50,800,000 |
| Chaco Culture Quarter | 22,000,000 | 22,000,000 | 44,000,000 |
| Acadia Quarter | 21,606,000 | 24,800,000 | 46,406,000 |
| Hawai’i Quarter | 78,600,000 | 46,200,000 | 124,800,000 |
| Denali Quarter | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kennedy Half Dollars | 1,700,000 | 1,800,000 | 3,500,000 |
| Native American $1 | 2,800,000 | 2,800,000 | 5,600,000 |
| Arthur Presidential $1 | 4,060,000 | 6,020,000 | 10,080,000 |
| Cleveland (1st Term) Presidential $1 | 4,060,000 | 5,460,000 | 9,520,000 |
| Harrison Presidential $1 | 4,200,000 | 5,640,001 | 9,840,001 |
| Cleveland (2nd Term) Presidential $1 | 3,920,000 | 10,680,001 | 14,600,001 |
| Total | 3,120,926,000 | 3,263,540,002 | 6,384,466,002 |
In specific changes above for coins with unique annual designs, there is only one call out — the addition of the Hawaii Volcanoes quarter.
Of note and for a second time this year, the Mint’s published quarter production total (261.21M) does not match up with the combined individual totals by quarter design (266.006M). Usually such differences indicate that the U.S. Mint is striking new quarters in preparation for an upcoming release. However, the totals are opposite of that scenario, suggesting production has not started for the final 2012 Denali National Park quarter and that U.S. Mint correctional adjustments may be forthcoming next month.
Coin production figures are based on data aggregated from the U.S. Mint page: http://www.usmint.gov/about_the_mint/?action=coin_production.
