U.S. Mint Produces Nearly 1.7 Billion Coins for Circulation in July

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US Coins
The United States Mint produced almost 1.7 billion coins in July

U.S. coin production soared for a second month in a row, manufacturing figures from the United States Mint show.

In July, U.S. Mint facilities in Philadelphia and Denver struck nearly 1.7 billion coins for circulation, marking their highest monthly output since January 2017. The production pace picked up 6.3% from the previous month and ran 41.2% quicker than in July of last year.

The Mint has increased production to help stem coin circulation issues resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I want to assure you that the men and women of the Mint workforce are working as hard as we possibly can to get newly produced coins into the economy. In fact, we are on track to mint more coins this year than we have produced in almost 20 years," U.S. Mint Director David J. Ryder said Aug. 5.

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

July 2019 to July 2020 Circulating Coin Production

Month Mintages Rank
July 2020 1,697.74 M 1
June 2020 1,596.48 M 2
May 2020 904.12 M 8
April 2020 801.84 M 11
March 2020 898.86 M 9
February 2020 1,094.30 M 6
January 2020 1,228.08 M 3
December 2019 400.88 M 13
November 2019 898.38 M 10
October 2019 1,154.94 M 5
September 2019 939.66 M 7
August 2019 767.32 M 12
July 2019 1,202.10 M 4

 

The Federal Reserve orders more 1-cent coins than any other denomination despite data that shows it costs the U.S. Mint 1.99 cents to make and distribute each one. The Mint produced 799.2 million Lincoln cents last month, representing 47.1% of the circulating-quality coins produced in July.

Month-Over-Month

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

  • 10.2% fewer Lincoln cents,
  • 33.1% more Jefferson nickels,
  • 7.1% fewer Roosevelt dimes, and
  • 72.4% more 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 quality for coin collectors. Usually in January, the U.S. Mint tends to strike both coins to the expected amounts needed for the entire year. That wasn’t the case for halves — more were produced in February and then again in July.

In February, mintages of Philadelphia Mint-struck Kennedy half-dollars rose by 1.8 million after none were reported out of the plant in January. In July, the Philadelphia Mint made another half million for a new total of 2.3 million. Those added to the 1.8 million produced in January by the Denver plant combine to 4.1 million halves for the year. For reference, last year’s half-dollar ended with equal splits of 1.7 million for Denver and Philadelphia for a combined 3.4 million.

Published mintages of the Native American dollar remained unchanged — 1.26 million from Denver and 1.4 million from Philadelphia for a combined 2.66 million coins. Last year’s issue had splits of 1.54 million for Denver and 1.4 million for Philadelphia for a combined 2.94 million coins.

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

US Mint Circulating Coin Production in July 2020

Denomination Denver Philadelphia Total
Lincoln Cents 460,000,000 339,200,000 799,200,000
Jefferson Nickels 108,000,000 108,240,000 216,240,000
Roosevelt Dimes 150,000,000 150,000,000 300,000,000
ATB Quarters 171,800,000 210,000,000 381,800,000
Kennedy Half Dollars 0 500,000 500,000
Native American $1s 0 0 0
Total 889,800,000 807,940,000 1,697,740,000

 

U.S. Mint plants in Denver and Philadelphia manufacture all of America’s coins for commerce. Last month, the Denver Mint made 889.8 million coins and the Philadelphia Mint made 807.94 million coins for the combined 1,697,740,000 coins.

YTD Totals

Year-to-date, the Denver Mint produced 4,287,800,000 coins and the Philadelphia Mint struck 3,933,620,000 coins for a combined 8,221,420,000 coins — 5.7% more than the 7,781,054,400 coins minted through the first seven months of 2019.

This next table lists 2020 coin production totals by denomination and by U.S. Mint facility:

YTD 2020 Circulating Coin Production by Denomination

1 ¢ 5 ¢ 10 ¢ 25 ¢ 50 ¢ N.A. $1 Total:
Denver 2339.6M 439.44M 762.5M 743.2M 1.8M 1.26M 4287.8M
Philadelphia 2021.6M 396.72M 727M 784.6M 2.3M 1.4M 3933.62M
Total 4361.2M 836.16M 1489.5M 1527.8M 4.1M 2.66M 8221.42M

 

The 2020 monthly average of roughly 1.17 billion coins tracks over 12 months to nearly 14.1 billion coins. The Mint made over 11.9 billion coins for circulation in 2019.

Mintages by Unique Design

Through July the U.S. Mint released four annually issued coins with one-year-only designs. They include:

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

2020 Circulating Coin Production by Design

  Denver Philadelphia Total
Lincoln Cents 2,339,600,000 2,021,600,000 4,361,200,000
Jefferson Nickels 439,440,000 396,720,000 836,160,000
Roosevelt Dimes 762,500,000 727,000,000 1,489,500,000
National Park of American Samoa Quarter 212,200,000 286,000,000 498,200,000
Weir Farm National Historic Site Quarter (Connecticut) 155,000,000 125,600,000 280,600,000
Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve Quarter (U.S. Virgin Islands) 0 0 0
Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park Quarter (Vermont) 0 0 0
Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve Quarter (Kansas) 0 0 0
Kennedy Half-Dollars 1,800,000 2,300,000 4,100,000
Native American $1 Coins 1,260,000 1,400,000 2,660,000
Total 3,911,800,000 3,560,620,000 7,472,420,000

 

In subtracting the totals by coin design from the overall production figures by denomination, there is one difference — mintages of quarters are higher by 749 million. These are likely a portion of U.S. Virgin Islands’ Salt River Bay quarters.

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TomW

Why aren’t the Innovation dollars mentioned in the totals?

Jim Longacre

They don’t circulate.

Seth Riesling

They should be included in this article’s listings. The Kennedy half dollars have not been made for circulation since 2002 & the Native American dollars haven’t been made for circulation since 2011 & they are listed in this article.

NumisdudeTX

Vachon

I remember feeling that way when the Mint said those Innovation Dollars would not be included in mint/proof sets because they were not made for circulation and thinking, “Well, what about all the half dollars since 2002 and most of the dollar coins since 2002 as well?” (and I further think of the 1970-D half dollar, the 1973 Ike dollars, the 1981 SBA dollar, and 1987 half dollars when none were struck for circulation either yet they were included)

Chas. Barber

Where?