U.S. Mint Strikes 604M Coins in November; Kennedy 50c Mintages Highest Since ’83

In November, the U.S. Mint picked up the pace of producing coins for circulation, but, for a third month in a row, the monthly level was very weak from a historical perspective.

Last month, the U.S. Mint produced slightly more than 604.4 million coins, encompassing cents, nickels, dimes, quarters, and half dollars. This represented a 20.4% increase from October, but a significant 33.3% decline compared to November 2022. Additionally, November marks the ninth month this year in which Kennedy halves were minted, resulting in their highest total for a year since 1983.

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

November 2022 to November 2023 Circulating Coin Production

For a Second Month, More 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 November, the Mint struck 303.976 million Lincoln cents, accounting for 50.3% of all circulating-quality coins produced for the month. In October, the percentage reached 50.4%. In the months from May 2022 through September 2023, this percentage was frequently below 50%, often well below it. For example, in September, the percentage dropped to 33%. Historically, prior to May 2022 (and now again in November as well as October), more than half of the coins produced each month were cents.

Month-Over-Month Changes

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

• 20.2% more Lincoln cents,
• 9.8% fewer Jefferson nickels,
• 4,773% more Roosevelt dimes (the Mint reported just 20,000 struck in October vs. 95.48 million made in November), and
• 18.8% fewer quarters.

2023 Kennedy Half Dollar Mintages Rise to 58 Million After November Increase of 13.19 Million

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, the U.S. Mint continues to make them in circulating quality for numismatic products sold to coin collectors. This practice was also true for Kennedy half dollars until recently, specifically starting in 2021.

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 of Kennedy half dollars for circulation. They have also been produced for general circulation in 2023, with the total struck increasing significantly: 13.19 million in November, 19.71 million in October, 6.3 million in September, 4.8 million in August, 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.

Year to date, the combined total of halves is 58 million, the highest since 1983 when it reached 66.6 million, comprising 27.8 million from Denver and 30.2 million from Philadelphia. This is a significant increase compared to the 2022 production runs, which only totaled 4.9 million from Denver and 4.8 million from Philadelphia, resulting in a combined total of only 9.7 million coins.

The mintages of Native American dollars have remained unchanged since January, with equal 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.

In terms of numismatic products containing the two denominations, on Feb. 6, the U.S. Mint started selling rolls, bags and boxes of 2023 Native American dollars, while on May 15, the bureau began offering 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 November 2023

Regarding overall production totals for October, the Denver Mint struck 295.5 million coins, while the Philadelphia Mint made 308.909 million coins, resulting in a combined production of 604,409,000 coins.

YTD Totals

Year to date, the Denver Mint has struck 5,590,200,000 coins and the Philadelphia Mint has made 5,639,700,000 coins, totaling 11,229,900,000 coins, which is 12.1% lower than the 12,773,880,000 coins manufactured during the same period in 2022.

If the current production pace were to continue through December, the annual mintage for 2023 would near 12.3 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 Mintages Released

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

• Bessie Coleman quarters began circulating on Jan. 3, and on Feb. 14, the Mint offered rolls and bags of the quarter for purchase by the public.
• Edith Kanakaʻole quarters started circulating on March 27 and were also made available in Mint rolls and bags on the same day.
• Eleanor Roosevelt quarters entered circulation and became available in rolls and bags on June 6.
• Jovita Idar quarters began circulating on Aug. 14 and were made available in rolls and bags on Aug. 15.
• Maria Tallchief quarters started circulating on Oct. 19 and, on the same day, were made available in rolls and bags.

Of note, the Mint’s reported quarter mintages were corrected, decreasing the total for the Eleanor Roosevelt quarter by a combined 207.4 million, while increasing the total for the Jovita Idar quarter by 207.4 million.

Finally, when examining the coin production by denomination in the table above, there are 308.6 million more quarters produced through November than indicated in the production breakdown by coin design in the table below. The alignment of the two figures will occur when mintages for the final Maria Tallchief quarter become available.

This table breaks down this year’s reported mintages by coin design, including quarters:

Published 2023 Circulating Production by Coin Design