US Mint Coin Production in September Rebounds, Topping 1 Billion

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For the sixth time this year after having happened just once last year, American circulating coin production for a month topped 1 billion coins, data from the United States Mint shows.

Bulk bags of circulating-quality Lincoln cents
These bulk bags hold tons of Lincoln cents that were produced for circulation at the Philadelphia Mint.

U.S. Mint presses struck 1,099,340,000 coins in September for a 51.7% increase over August and an advance of 21.4% from a year ago. August came in at 724.91 million coins, the slowest month in a year.

For a perspective on the one billion mark and its continued occurrence throughout 2013, last October was the first time the amount had been touched since early into the Great Recession.

Here’s how September stacks up to other months over the past year:

2012 – 2013 September Coin Production Figures / Mintages

Month Mintages Rank
September 2013 1,099.34 M 4
August 2013 724.91 M 12
July 2013 1,225.96 M 1
June 2013 1,070.12 M 6
May 2013 1,084.36 M 5
April 2013 1,117.23 M 3
March 2013 932.56 M 9
February 2013 939.98 M 8
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 7
September 2012 905.34 M 10

 

The Federal Reserve is responsible for deciding how many coins for circulation are needed, with the U.S. Mint striking amounts based on Fed order requests. As is the case each month, Federal Reserve Banks order more pennies from the U.S. Mint than any other denomination. In September, the Mint struck 649.6 million of them, representing 59.1% of all circulating-quality coins struck for the month.

As for all the coins used every day by Americans, each logged month-over-month production gains of:

  • 47.5% for Lincoln cents,
  • 45.3% for Jefferson nickels,
  • 50.6% for Roosevelt dimes, and
  • 81.2% for America the Beautiful Quarters

Kennedy half-dollars, Presidential $1 Coins and Native American $1 Coins are no longer ordered by banks but the U.S. Mint is authorized to strike them in circulating quality for coin collectors. Native American dollars have not been produced since January and presses have been silent for Kennedy half-dollars since April. Presidential $1 Coins were last minted with a run of 10,000 in August and 3.36 million in July.

The following table lists September’s coin production figures by denomination:

US Mint Circulating Coin Production in September 2013

Denomination Denver Philadelphia Total
Lincoln Cents 317,600,000 332,000,000 649,600,000
Jefferson Nickels 53,760,000 50,880,000 104,640,000
Roosevelt Dimes 101,500,000 95,000,000 196,500,000
2013 ATB Quarters 83,400,000 65,200,000 148,600,000
Kennedy Half Dollars 0 0 0
Native American $1s 0 0 0
Presidential Dollars 0 0 0
Total 556,260,000 543,080,000 1,099,340,000

 

U.S. Mint facilities in Denver and Philadelphia produce all of America’s circulating coins for commerce. From January through September, the Philadelphia Mint pressed 4,794,450,000 coins and the Denver Mint struck 4,615,010,000 coins.

Read: How the Philadelphia Mint makes coins.

That brings the year-to-date total for both plants to 9,409,460,000 coins for a sharp 30.5% jump over the 7,207,606,000 coins minted through the first nine months in 2012. This year’s monthly average of over 1.05 billion coins sets 2013 on track for an annual coin production total of more than 12.4 billion coins — the highest tally since 14.4 billion coins were produced in 2007.

The following table offers the latest production breakdown by denomination and U.S. Mint facility:

Circulating Coin Production from Jan 2013 – Sept 2013

1 ¢ 5 ¢ 10 ¢ 25 ¢ 50 ¢ N.A. $1 Pres $1 Total:
Denver 2660.4M 497.28M 817.5M 622.2M 1.8M 1.82M 14.01M 4615.01M
Philadelphia 2969.2M 468.48M 849.5M 484.2M 1.8M 1.82M 19.45M 4794.45M
Total 5629.6M 965.76M 1667.M 1106.4M 3.6M 3.64M 33.46M 9409.46M

 

Aside from pennies, nickels and dimes, September figures did not fill the last gap or offer updates to mintages by coin design. Woodrow Wilson Presidential $1 Coins launch next Thursday, Oct. 17. The U.S. Mint stopped striking them in July and published their Denver and Philadelphia mintage splits in August.

An unknown is the mintage breakout for the Mount Rushmore quarter. This coin is the last of the 2013 America the Beautiful Quarters with a scheduled circulation release date of Nov. 4. The Mint is still striking them, as briefly discussed further below.

The following grid lists 2013 mintages by coin design:

2013 Circulating Coin Production / Mintages by Coin Design

  Denver Philadelphia 2013 Total
Lincoln Cents 2,660,400,000 2,969,200,000 5,629,600,000
Jefferson Nickels 497,280,000 468,480,000 965,760,000
Roosevelt Dimes 817,500,000 849,500,000 1,667,000,000
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 151,400,000 120,000,000 271,400,000
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 3,365,100 4,760,000 8,125,100
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 4,524,805,100 4,729,250,700 9,254,055,800

 

In closing, two differences are found when comparing the totals by coin design from those for denomination:

  • America the Beautiful Quarters are higher by 155,400,000 compared to the prior month’s difference of 6,800,000. That number could at least double before its tagged to the 2013 Mount Rushmore quarter. Based on trends, it will likely have the highest mintage of any ATB quarter.

  • Like the previous report, Presidential $1 Coins are higher by 4,200.

Circulating coin production figures in this coin news article are based on data aggregated from the United States Mint webpage found at: http://www.usmint.gov/about_the_mint/?action=coin_production.

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