U.S. Mint Produces Nearly 1.14 Billion Coins for Circulation in July

The pace of striking coins for circulation at the United States Mint slowed for the second consecutive month in July, but it still exceeded the billion mark for the seventh month in a row.

In the past month, the U.S. Mint struck nearly 1.14 billion coins encompassing cents, nickels, dimes, quarters, and half dollars, marking a 12.2% decrease from June but a 3.5% increase from July 2022.

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

July 2022 to July 2023 Circulating Coin Production

Fewer Pennies

The main mission of the U.S. Mint is to manufacture coins in response to public demand. The Mint produces, sells and then delivers circulating coins to Federal Reserve Banks to support their service to commercial banks and other financial institutions.

Even though it costs the Mint 2.72 cents to make and distribute each 1-cent coin, the Federal Reserve always orders more of them than any other denomination.

In July, the Mint struck 457.6 million Lincoln cents, which accounted for 40.2% of the circulating-quality coins made for the month. This continues a trend that began in May 2022, when the percentage of cents produced in a given month fell below 50%. Historically, before then, more than half of the coins produced in a given month were cents. For instance, in January of last year, 59.8% of the circulating coins minted were cents, which contrasts with the current situation.

Month-Over-Month

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

• 7.3% for Lincoln cents,
• 6.8% for Jefferson nickels,
• 20.7% for Roosevelt dimes, and
• 14.1% for quarters.

Mintages of Native American Dollars and Kennedy Halves

In addition to cents, nickels, dimes, and quarters, the U.S. Mint also produces dollars and half dollars in circulating quality. While the Federal Reserve no longer orders Native American $1 coins, they are still minted in circulating quality for coin collectors. This was also true for Kennedy half dollars until recently, specifically in 2021 and 2022.

Typically, in January, the U.S. Mint produces both denominations in the expected amounts needed for the entire year. However, this remains the case only for Native American dollars, as Kennedy halves saw their mintages increase in multiple months in 2021, 2022, and 2023.

In the past two fiscal years (2021 and 2022), the Federal Reserve unexpectedly ordered millions more Kennedy half dollars for circulation, with amounts of about 12 million and 7 million, respectively. It’s likely that Kennedy half dollars have been produced for general circulation in 2023 as well, with the total struck increasing by 3.2 million in July, 1.7 million in May, 2.5 million in April, 2.2 million in March, and 4.4 million in January. As of now, the combined total of halves is 14 million, with a mix of 5.4 million from Denver and 8.6 million from Philadelphia. This is in comparison to the 2022 production runs, which totaled 4.9 million from Denver and 4.8 million from Philadelphia, for a total of 9.7 million coins.

The mintages of Native American dollars have remained unchanged since January, with splits of 1.12 million from the Denver Mint and 1.12 million from the Philadelphia Mint, for a combined total of 2.24 million coins. In contrast, the 2022 dollar recorded equal splits of 980,000 from each facility, for a total of 1.96 million coins.

On Feb. 6, U.S. Mint started selling rolls, bags and boxes of 2023 Native American dollars. On May 15, the bureau started offering collectors rolls and bags of circulating 2023 Kennedy halves.

This next table shows a summary of all the circulating-quality coins produced last month:

U.S. Mint Circulating Coin Production in July 2023

Regarding overall production totals for July, the Denver Mint struck 561.88 million coins, while the Philadelphia Mint made 577.42 million coins, resulting in a combined production of 1,139,300,000 coins.

YTD Totals

Year to date, the Denver Mint has struck 4,357,680,000 coins, and the Philadelphia Mint has made 4,189,460,000 coins, for a total production of 8,547,140,000 coins. This figure is 2.2% lower than the 8,738,960,000 coins manufactured during the same time in 2022.

If the current production pace were to continue through December, the annual mintage for 2023 would exceed 14.6 billion coins. In comparison, the U.S. Mint produced over 13.6 billion coins for circulation in 2022.

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

YTD 2023 Circulating Coin Production by Denomination

2023 Quarter Mintages

In addition to the 2023 Native American dollar with its one-year-only design, the U.S. Mint through July released the first three of five issues for 2023 from their four-year program of American Women Quarters™. These three quarters represent the sixth, seventh, and eighth overall in the series, and each one features a unique design.

The Bessie Coleman quarter, the first quarter design for this year, began circulating on Jan. 3. On February 14, the Mint made rolls and bags of the quarter available for purchase by the public.

The Edith Kanakaʻole quarter, this year’s second 25-cent design, started circulating on March 27 and is also available in Mint rolls and bags.

Lastly, the Eleanor Roosevelt quarter launched on June 6. Official mintages for it have yet to be reported. However, as of year-to-date, out of the total coin production, 564.2 million quarters have not yet been officially assigned a design by the U.S. Mint. These quarters are likely Roosevelt quarters, and the finalized figure is expected to be announced soon.

This last table offers a breakdown of this year’s mintages that have been reported by coin design, including the first two quarters:

Published 2023 Circulating Coin Production by Design

As a side note, the 2023 Jovita Idar quarter started entering circulation on Aug. 14, with rolls and bags of them launching on Aug. 15.