U.S. Coin Production Nears 940M in September; San Antonio Missions Quarter Mintages Published

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2019-P Uncirculated San Antonio Missions National Historical Park quarter
This CoinNews photo shows a 2019 San Antonio Missions National Historical Park quarter. The U.S. Mint published mintages for the quarter in their September production report.

The pace of producing U.S. coins for circulation increased in September but remained under the 1 billion level for a second month in a row, according to manufacturing figures from the United States Mint.

U.S. Mint data also showed for the first time mintages of Texas’ San Antonio Missions quarter, the fourth of this year’s five quarters with unique designs.

In the headline figure for the month, the Mint struck 939.66 million coins, jumping 22.5% from August but slipping 3.8% from September 2018.

Here’s how the month compares against others in the past year:

September 2018 to September 2019 Circulating Coin Production

Month Mintages Rank
September 2019 939.66 M 10
August 2019 767.32 M 11
July 2019 1,202.10 M 5
June 2019 1,021.654 M 8
May 2019 485.24 M 13
April 2019 1,253.76 M 4
March 2019 1,054.90 M 6
February 2019 1,256.10 M 3
January 2019 1,507.30 M 1
December 2018 560.64 M 12
November 2018 1,031.24 M 7
October 2018 1,382.18 M 2
September 2018 976.82 M 9

 

The Federal Reserve always orders more 1-cent coins than any other denomination even with the latest data showing it costs the U.S. Mint 2.06 cents to make and distribute each one. The bureau produced 537.2 million Lincoln cents in September, representing 57.2% of the circulating-quality coins produced for the month.

Month-Over-Month

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

  • 16.8% for Lincoln cents,
  • 12.5% for Jefferson nickels,
  • 4.6% for Roosevelt dimes, and
  • 106.5% for America the Beautiful quarter dollars.

Native American $1 Coins and Kennedy half-dollars are no longer ordered by Federal Reserve Banks but they are still made in circulating finish for coin collectors. In January, the U.S. Mint tends to strike both coins to the expected amounts needed for the entire year.

That said, the bureau’s data for February did show an increase of 140,000 in 2019-D Native American dollars. Reported mintages for the space-themed piece are at 1.54 million for Denver and 1.4 million for Philadelphia for a combined 2.94 million coins — up from last year’s dollar mintages by the added 140,000.

Mintages for the 2019 Kennedy half-dollar remained the same for an eighth straight month, totaling 3.4 million coins with equal splits between the Denver and Philadelphia Mints. Last year’s half-dollar was the most produced since the one from 2001. It saw 6.1 million from Denver and 4.8 million from Philadelphia for a combined 10.9 million coins.

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

US Mint Circulating Coin Production in September 2019

Denomination Denver Philadelphia Total
Lincoln Cents 256,400,000 280,800,000 537,200,000
Jefferson Nickels 38,880,000 38,880,400 77,760,400
Roosevelt Dimes 81,500,000 90,000,000 171,500,000
ATB Quarters 70,400,000 82,800,000 153,200,000
Kennedy Half Dollars 0 0 0
Native American $1s 0 0 0
Total 447,180,000 492,480,400 939,660,400

 

U.S. Mint facilities in Denver and Philadelphia manufacture all of America’s coins for commerce. Last month, the Philadelphia Mint produced 492.48 million coins and the Denver Mint produced 447.18 million coins.

YTD Totals

Year-to-date, the Philadelphia Mint struck 4,931,814,400 coins and the Denver Mint struck 4,556,220,000 coins for a combined 9,488,034,400 coins — 6.5% fewer than the 10,151,354,000 coins minted through the first nine months of 2018.

This next table lists 2019 coin production totals by denomination and by U.S. Mint facility:

YTD 2019 Circulating Coin Production by Denomination

1 ¢ 5 ¢ 10 ¢ 25 ¢ 50 ¢ N.A. $1 Total:
Denver 2691.2M 417.88M 820.5M 623.4M 1.7M 1.54M 4556.22M
Philadelphia 2865.2M 484.8144M 985.5M 593.2M 1.7M 1.4M 4931.8144M
Total 5556.4M 902.6944M 1806M 1216.6M 3.4M 2.94M 9488.0344M

 

The 2019 monthly average of about 1.05 billion coins tracks over 12 months to roughly 12.7 billion coins. The U.S. Mint made over 13.1 billion coins for circulation in 2018.

Mintages by Unique Design

Through September, the U.S. Mint has released five annually issued coins with one-year-only designs. They include:

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

2019 Circulating Coin Production by Design

  Denver Philadelphia Total
Lincoln Cents 2,691,200,000 2,865,200,000 5,556,400,000
Jefferson Nickels 417,880,000 484,814,400 902,694,400
Roosevelt Dimes 820,500,000 985,500,000 1,806,000,000
Lowell National Historical Park Quarter (MA) 182,200,000 165,800,000 348,000,000
American Memorial Park Quarter (MP) 182,600,000 142,800,000 325,400,000
War in the Pacific National Historical Park Quarter (GU) 114,400,000 116,600,000 231,000,000
San Antonio Missions National Historical Park Quarter (TX) 129,400,000 142,800,000 272,200,000
Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness Quarter (ID) 0 0 0
Kennedy Half-Dollars 1,700,000 1,700,000 3,400,000
Native American $1 Coins 1,540,000 1,400,000 2,940,000
Total 4,541,420,000 4,906,614,400 9,448,034,400

 

There are 40 million in quarters that the U.S. Mint has yet to officially assign to a design. These are likely a portion of Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness quarters due for circulation beginning Nov. 4.

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Seth Riesling

Mike Unser –

Thanks for compiling & analysing this circulating coinage data for us collectors!

NumisdudeTX

Christopher Williams

Yes, thank you, Mike.

Chas Barber

And not a “W” to be found in circulation anymore. But some dude in Oklahoma has 4 rolls???

Seth Riesling

And the first 3 Texas “W” quarters were all found in Utah!! Crazy stuff for sure. LOL

NumisdudeTX

Chas Barber

I have gotten many rolls of the San Ant & Landing craft ATBs not one W!! went through 13 rolls. I’m done. I had gotten 6 War Mem & @ least found 2 out of 240, but wow this is BS. .0083% “hits” added to the 12 I went thru for the other 2 it equals a HIT rate @ .oo27%…goody