US Coin Production in August, Great Sand Dunes Quarter Mintages

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Great Sand Dunes Quarters in Rolls, Sets and Bags
Great Sand Dunes National Park Quarters have the third highest mintage among America the Beautiful Quarters

For the first time in seven months and for only the second time this year, United States Mint in August struck fewer than 1 billion coins for circulation.

That’s not too eyebrow-raising since August is typically tepid for coin production, one of the slowest months of a given year.

Figures from the U.S. Mint show an August output of 913.38 million in pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters. The level is down 31.4% from July for the weakest month in 2014, yet it’s 26% higher than the same time last year. Here’s how the month stacks up to others over the past year:

2013 – 2014 August Coin Production Figures

Month Mintages Rank
August 2014 913.38 M 11
July 2014 1,331.34 M 2
June 2014 1,279.82 M 4
May 2014 1,326.80 M 3
April 2014 1,007.96 M 8
March 2014 1,025.40 M 7
February 2014 939.04 M 10
January 2014 1,449.38 M 1
December 2013 285.96 M 13
November 2013 991.14 M 9
October 2013 1,220.38 M 5
September 2013 1,099.34 M 6
August 2013 724.91 M 12

 

As an always provided sidebar in our monthly coin production articles, we like to include this reminder:

The United States Mint does not decide how many coins to make for circulation. It’s the Federal Reserve that orders them from the U.S. Mint based on usage trends and coinage requests from financial institutions around the country.

Lincoln cents always lead coin production figures even as it takes about 1.8 cents to strike and distribute each one. The U.S. Mint made 553.6 million pennies in August which is 60.6% of the circulating coins produced for the month. For coins used every day by Americans and in month-over-month comparisons, August saw:

  • 28.1% fewer Lincoln cents,
  • 36.4% fewer Jefferson nickels,
  • 36.5% fewer Roosevelt dimes, and
  • 34.8% fewer 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 U.S. Mint still makes them in circulating-quality for coin collectors. In January, the Mint produced 2014 Native American $1 Coins and 2014 Kennedy half-dollars to the expected amounts needed for the entire year. Presidential $1 Coins were last minted in May and it seems enough are now in inventory to support demand across all four 2014 designs.

U.S. Mint facilities in Philadelphia and Denver manufacture all the circulating coinage for commerce. In August, the Denver Mint struck 611.82 million coins and the Philadelphia Mint produced 301.56 million coins. Here’s a breakdown for the circulating-quality coins made by the U.S. Mint last month:

US Mint Circulating Coin Production in August 2014

Denomination Denver Philadelphia Total
Lincoln Cents 360,400,000 193,200,000 553,600,000
Jefferson Nickels 59,520,000 26,160,000 85,680,000
Roosevelt Dimes 110,500,000 39,000,000 149,500,000
2013 ATB Quarters 81,400,000 43,200,000 124,600,000
Kennedy Half Dollars 0 0 0
Native American $1s 0 0 0
Presidential Dollars 0 0 0
Total 611,820,000 301,560,000 913,380,000

 

For the January through August period, the Denver Mint made 4,924,640,000 coins and the Philadelphia Mint produced 4,348,480,000 coins. The two facilities have churned out a total of 9,273,120,000 coins for an 11.6% increase over the 8,310,120,000 coins minted through the first eight months of 2013.

This next table offers 2014 coin production totals by denomination and by U.S. Mint facility:

YTD 2014 Circulating Coin Production by Denomination

1 ¢ 5 ¢ 10 ¢ 25 ¢ 50 ¢ N.A. $1 Pres $1 Total:
Denver 2942.4M 434.88M 804M 720.4M 2.1M 5.6M 15.26M 4924.64M
Philadelphia 2638.4M 424.32M 700.5M 559.8M 2.5M 3.08M 19.88M 4348.48M
Total 5580.8M 859.2M 1504.5M 1280.2M 4.6M 8.68M 35.14M 9273.12M

 

The current 2014 monthly average of more than 1.1 billion coins is poised to place this year’s annual coin production total above 13.9 billion coins — the most since 14.4 billion were minted in 2007. Just over 11.9 billion coins were made in 2013.

Great Sand Dunes National Park Quarter Mintages

Great Sand Dunes National Park Quarters for Colorado, the fourth of the five quarter designs for 2014 and the 24th issued America the Beautiful Quarter, entered circulation beginning on Aug. 25. The latest Mint data shows that Great Sand Dunes quarter mintages total 331.4 million with splits 171.8 million from Denver and 159.6 million from Philadelphia. The amount is the third highest mintage of America the Beautiful Quarters. It falls behind the immediate prior 2014 Arches quarter and last year’s final quarter depicting Mount Rushmore.

The following table offers a breakdown of 2014 mintages across coin designs:

2014 Circulating Coin Production / Mintages by Coin Design

  Denver Philadelphia 2014 Total
Lincoln Cents 2,942,400,000 2,638,400,000 5,580,800,000
Jefferson Nickels 434,880,000 424,320,000 859,200,000
Roosevelt Dimes 804,000,000 700,500,000 1,504,500,000
Great Smoky Mountains Quarter 99,400,000 73,200,000 172,600,000
Shenandoah National Park Quarter 197,800,000 112,800,000 310,600,000
Arches National Park Quarter 251,400,000 214,200,000 465,600,000
Great Sand Dunes Quarter 171,800,000 159,600,000 331,400,000
Everglades National Park Quarter
Kennedy Half Dollars 2,100,000 2,500,000 4,600,000
Native American $1 5,600,000 3,080,000 8,680,000
Warren G. Harding $1 3,780,000 6,160,000 9,940,000
Calvin Coolidge $1 3,780,000 4,480,000 8,260,000
Herbert Hoover $1 3,780,000 4,480,000 8,260,000
Franklin D. Roosevelt $1 3,920,000 4,760,000 8,680,000
Total 4,924,640,000 4,348,480,000 9,273,120,000

 

Coin production figures in this coin news article are based on data aggregated from the U.S. Mint website at: http://www.usmint.gov/about_the_mint/?action=coin_production.

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