For a fourth month in a row and for the fifth time this year, American coin production topped 1 billion coins, U.S. Mint data for July shows.
Also revealed were mintages for the 2013 Woodrow Wilson Presidential dollar, the last of this year’s four Presidential $1 Coins.
In getting down to the details, the United States Mint in July pressed nearly 1.23 billion coins for circulation. A higher monthly amount has not been recorded since 2007. The level marks aggressive increases of 14.6% from June and 35.2% from the same time last year.
2012 – 2013 July Coin Production Figures / Mintages
| Month | Mintages | Rank |
| July 2013 | 1,225,96 M | 1 |
| June 2013 | 1,070,12 M | 5 |
| May 2013 | 1,084.36 M | 4 |
| April 2013 | 1,117.23 M | 3 |
| March 2013 | 932.56 M | 8 |
| February 2013 | 939.98 M | 7 |
| January 2013 | 1,223.68 M | 2 |
| December 2012 | 245.34 M | 13 |
| November 2012 | 765.76 M | 11 |
| October 2012 | 1,040.12 M | 6 |
| September 2012 | 905.34 M | 10 |
| August 2012 | 655.55 M | 12 |
| July 2012 | 906.62 M | 9 |
Federal Reserve Banks always order more pennies from the United States Mint than any other denomination. Last month the U.S. Mint produced 716.8 million cents, also the most in any month since 2007. The total represents 58.5% of all circulating-quality coins struck.
In some quick history, dollar coins and Kennedy half-dollars are no longer produced for commerce. The U.S. Mint simply produces enough for coin collectors. As such, Native American $1 Coins have not been minted since January and presses for Kennedy half-dollars have been silent since April. That had also been the case for Presidential $1 Coins until July.
As for denominations used daily by Americans, each registered month-over-month production gains of:
- 9.9% for Lincoln cents,
- 23.9% for Jefferson nickels,
- 25.3% for Roosevelt dimes, and
- 13.2% for America the Beautiful Quarters
Here is the breakdown of last month’s coin production figures by denomination:
US Circulating Coin Production in July 2013 by Denomination
| Denomination | Denver | Philadelphia | Total |
| Lincoln Cents | 363,600,000 | 353,200,000 | 716,800,000 |
| Jefferson Nickels | 65,760,000 | 67,440,000 | 133,200,000 |
| Roosevelt Dimes | 111,500,000 | 106,500,000 | 218,000,000 |
| 2013 ATB Quarters | 88,600,000 | 66,000,000 | 154,600,000 |
| Kennedy Half Dollars | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Native American $1s | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Presidential Dollars | 3,360,000 | 0 | 3,360,000 |
| Total | 632,820,000 | 593,140,000 | 1,225,960,000 |
Year-To-Date 2013 Circulating Coin Production Total
U.S. Mint facilities in Philadelphia and Denver are tasked with striking all coins for circulation. In the January through July period, the Philadelphia Mint produced 3,819,610,000 coins and the Denver Mint struck 3,765,600,000 coins.
Both plants have a combined year-to-date total of 7,585,210,000 coins, marking a 32.5% increase over the 5,724,160,000 coins produced through the first seven months in 2012. This year’s monthly average of more than 1.08 billion coins would place the 2013 annual coin production total above 13 billion coins — a level not seen since 14.4 billion were minted in 2007.
The following table offers the latest production breakdown by U.S. Mint facility:
Circulating Coin Production from January 2013 through July 2013
| 1 ¢ | 5 ¢ | 10 ¢ | 25 ¢ | 50 ¢ | N.A. $1 | Pres $1 | Total: | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denver | 2173.6M | 410.88M | 666.5M | 497.0M | 1.8M | 1.82M | 14.0M | 3765.6M |
| Philadelphia | 2366.0M | 378.24M | 673.5M | 378.8M | 1.8M | 1.82M | 19.45M | 3819.61M |
| Total | 4539.6M | 789.12M | 1340.0M | 875.8M | 3.6M | 3.64M | 33.45M | 7585.21M |
Mintages 2013 Woodrow Wilson Presidential $1 Coins
As discussed briefly before, preliminary mintages are now known for the Woodrow Wilson Presidential $1 Coin, the last of four 2013 Presidential dollars and the 28th in order of release. Mintage splits are 3,360,000 from Denver and 4,620,000 from Philadelphia for a total of 7,980,000 dollars. No other Presidential dollar has a lower combined total.
Broken out by U.S. Mint facility, the 2013-P Woodrow Wilson $1 is the scarcest of any Philadelphia minted dollar. The 2013-D Woodrow Wilson $1 ties at the low spot with Denver struck Presidential dollars honoring William McKinley and William Howard Taft — both 2013-dated dollars.
The following grid offers 2013 mintages by coin design.
2013 Circulating Coin Production / Mintages by Coin Design
| Denver | Philadelphia | 2013 Total | |
| Lincoln Cents | 2,173,600,000 | 2,366,000,000 | 4,539,600,000 |
| Jefferson Nickels | 410,880,000 | 378,240,000 | 789,120,000 |
| Roosevelt Dimes | 666,500,000 | 673,500,000 | 1,340,000,000 |
| White Mountain Quarter | 107,600,000 | 68,800,000 | 176,400,000 |
| Perry’s Victory Quarter | 131,600,000 | 107,800,000 | 239,400,000 |
| Great Basin Quarter | 141,400,000 | 122,400,000 | 263,800,000 |
| Fort McHenry Quarter | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mount Rushmore Quarter | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kennedy Half Dollars | 1,800,000 | 1,800,000 | 3,600,000 |
| Native American $1 | 1,820,000 | 1,820,000 | 3,640,000 |
| William McKinley $1 | 3,360,000 | 4,760,000 | 8,120,000 |
| Theodore Roosevelt $1 | 3,920,000 | 5,310,700 | 9,230,700 |
| William Howard Taft $1 | 3,360,000 | 4,760,000 | 8,120,000 |
| Woodrow Wilson $1 | 3,360,000 | 4,620,000 | 7,980,000 |
| Total | 3,649,200,000 | 3,739,810,700 | 7,389,010,700 |
Finally, when comparing the totals by coin design by those for denomination, America the Beautiful Quarters are higher by 196.2 million. These are some of the Fort McHenry quarters that launch on August 26, 2013.
All coin production figures above are based on data aggregated from the United States Mint webpage found at: http://www.usmint.gov/about_the_mint/?action=coin_production.
Sounds like a lot of dollar coins until you consider the ratio of the population of the United States. Not even enough to supply just one Wilson to each resident of the Houston and DFW metro areas of Texas.