US Mint Strikes 1.3 Billion Coins for Circulation in September

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Pile of US coins
U.S. Mint production facilities in Philadelphia and Denver made more than 1.3 billion coins in September

U.S. coin production in September ran the quickest since March but not as fast as a year earlier, manufacturing figures from the United States Mint show.

Over 1.3 billion in cents, nickels, dimes, and quarters were pressed for circulation last month, driving the year-to-date total to more than 11.3 billion coins.

In headline comparisons, September production increased 12.7% from August and declined 16.4% from September 2016. Here’s how the month stacks up against others in the past year:

2016 – 2017 September Coin Production Figures

Month Mintages Rank
September 2017 1,316.22 M 4
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 12
March 2017 1,445.8 M 3
February 2017 983.40 M 10
January 2017 1,790.30 M 1
December 2016 696.68 M 13
November 2016 976.04 M 11
October 2016 1,297.36 M 5
September 2016 1,573.70 M 2

 

The Federal Reserve orders more 1-cent coins from the U.S. Mint than any other denominations even as it costs 1.5 cents to make and distribute each one. The agency produced 784 million Lincoln cents in September for 59.6% of the circulating-quality coins produced for the month.

P-Mint Cents

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

2017-dated circulating cents from the Philadelphia Mint bear a ‘P’ mint mark for the first time in history. This is a one-year-only embellishment, added as a part of the U.S. Mint’s 225th anniversary celebration.

These P-cents are not rare, however, with 3.33 billion already made through the first nine months of this year.

Month-Over-Month

In the latest month-over month comparisons for coins used daily by Americans, production totals in September advanced:

  • 4% for Lincoln cents,
  • 20.1% for Jefferson nickels,
  • 26.6% for Roosevelt dimes, and
  • 37.6% for America the Beautiful Quarters.

Native American $1 Coins and Kennedy half-dollars are no longer ordered by Federal Reserve Banks but they are still made in circulating quality for coin collectors. In January, the U.S. Mint tends to strike both coins to the expected amounts needed for the entire year. The agency in April did produce 140,000 more 2017-P Native American dollars.

Production facilities in Denver and Philadelphia manufacture all of America’s coins for commerce. In September, the Denver Mint made 646.24 million coins and the Philadelphia Mint made 669.98 million coins.

Here’s a summary of all circulating-quality coins produced during the month:

US Mint Circulating Coin Production in September 2017

Denomination Denver Philadelphia Total
Lincoln Cents 382,800,000 401,200,000 784,000,000
Jefferson Nickels 56,640,000 59,280,000 115,920,000
Roosevelt Dimes 109,000,000 126,500,000 235,500,000
ATB Quarters 97,800,000 83,000,000 180,800,000
Kennedy Half Dollars 0 0 0
Native American $1s 0 0 0
Total 646,240,000 669,980,000 1,316,220,000

 

YTD Totals

Year-to-date figures at 5,561,140,000 coins from Denver and 5,765,560,000 coins from Philadelphia total 11,326,700,000 coins, representing a 13.2% decline from the 13,047,340,000 coins minted by the same time last year.

This next table lists 2017 coin production totals by denomination and by U.S. Mint facility:

YTD 2017 Circulating Coin Production by Denomination

1 ¢ 5 ¢ 10 ¢ 25 ¢ 50 ¢ N.A. $1 Total:
Denver 3274M 506.4M 1018M 759.4M 1.8M 1.54M 5561.14M
Philadelphia 3330M 525.84M 1091.5M 814.6M 1.8M 1.82M 5765.56M
Total 6604M 1032.24M 2109.5M 1574M 3.6M 3.36M 11326.7M

 

This year’s monthly average of nearly 1.26 billion coins tracks over 12 months to about 15.1 billion coins. The U.S. Mint produced over 16 billion coins in 2016 after making more than 17 billion coins in 2015, the most since 2001.

Mintages by Coin Design

The U.S. Mint has issued five of the six 2017-dated coins bearing one-year-only designs. They include the:

Mintages for the Native American dollar at 1.54 million from Denver and 1.82 million from Philadelphia combine to 3.36 million coins. Last year’s design ended with splits of 2.1 million from Denver and 2.8 million from Philadelphia for 4.90 million coins.

Production figures include 319 million quarters that have yet to be officially assigned to a design. These are Ellis Island quarters which started to circulate in late August. Their ending mintage should be available in November.

The following table offers a breakdown of this year’s mintages by coin design:

2017 Circulating Coin Production by Design

  Denver Philadelphia Total
Lincoln Cents 2,891,200,000 2,928,800,000 5,820,000,000
Jefferson Nickels 449,760,000 466,560,000 916,320,000
Roosevelt Dimes 909,000,000 965,000,000 1,874,000,000
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 200,000,000 202,400,000 402,400,000
Ellis Island National Monument Quarter 0 0 0
George Rogers Clark National Historical Park Quarter 0 0 0
Kennedy Half-Dollars 1,800,000 1,800,000 3,600,000
Native American $1 Coins 1,540,000 1,820,000 3,360,000
Total 4,849,900,000 5,022,380,000 9,872,280,000

 

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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