The pace of striking U.S. coins for circulation peaked at a five-month high in January, according to manufacturing figures published on Feb. 28 by the United States Mint.
In January, the U.S. Mint struck just shy of 756 million coins for commerce, including cents, nickels, dimes, quarters, and half dollars, marking a 398% increase from December but a 37% drop from January 2023.
Here’s how the month compares to others in the past year:
January 2023 to January 2024 Circulating Coin Production
| Month | Mintages | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| January 2024 | 755.98 M | 9 |
| December 2023 | 151.8 M | 13 |
| November 2023 | 604.409 M | 10 |
| October 2023 | 501.911 M | 12 |
| September 2023 | 546.03 M | 11 |
| August 2023 | 1,030.38 M | 8 |
| July 2023 | 1,139.30 M | 6 |
| June 2023 | 1,297.18 M | 2 |
| May 2023 | 1,417.78 M | 1 |
| April 2023 | 1,250.32 M | 3 |
| March 2023 | 1,187.94 M | 5 |
| February 2023 | 1,054.16 M | 7 |
| January 2023 | 1,200.46 M | 4 |
The primary mission of the U.S. Mint is to manufacture coins in response to public demand. The Mint produces, sells, and subsequently delivers circulating coins to Federal Reserve Banks and their coin terminals to support their services to commercial banks and other financial institutions.
Even though it costs the Mint 3.07 cents to make and distribute each 1-cent coin, the Federal Reserve always orders more of them than any other denomination. In January, the Mint struck 412.8 million Lincoln cents, accounting for 54.6% of all circulating-quality coins produced for the month.
Month-Over-Month
In the previous month (December), the U.S. Mint did not produce any nickels. As for other coins used daily by Americans, production totals increased month-over-month in January by:
- 410.9% for Lincoln cents,
- 1,237.8% for Roosevelt dimes, and
- 202.3% for quarters.
Mintages of Native American Dollars and Kennedy Halves
The U.S. Mint also strikes other coins in circulating quality, namely half dollars and dollars. Native American $1 coins are no longer ordered by the Federal Reserve, but they are still made in circulating quality for coin collectors. The same was true for Kennedy half dollars until recently — years 2021, 2022, and 2023.
Usually, in January, the U.S. Mint produces both denominations to the expected amounts needed for the entire year. However, that has not been the case for Kennedy halves in each of the three prior years, as the Federal Reserve unexpectedly ordered millions more for circulation — roughly 12 million, 7 million, and 18 million in fiscal years 2021, 2022, and 2023.
It has not been disclosed whether any 2024 Kennedy half dollars will be produced for general circulation. Figures to date show this year’s halves at 2.9 million from the Denver Mint and 2.8 million from the Philadelphia Mint, for a total of 5.7 million coins. These figures are compared to production runs in 2023 totaling 27.8 million from Denver and 30.2 million from Philadelphia, amounting to 58 million coins — the highest since 1983 when it reached 66.6 million.
Unlike usual practice, the mintages of the Native American dollar will be subject to change in the upcoming manufacturing data rather than having already been completed for the year. This adjustment arises because none were reported minted in Denver in January, while 1.12 million were struck in Philadelphia. In 2023, the dollar registered equal splits of 1.12 million from each facility, totaling 2.24 million coins.
On Jan. 29, the U.S. Mint started selling Denver- and Philadelphia-minted rolls, bags, and boxes of 2024 Native American dollars. On May 7, the bureau is expected to offer collectors rolls and bags of circulating 2024 Kennedy halves.
This next table shows 2024 circulating coin mintages by production facility, denomination, and design.
U.S. Mint Circulating Coin Production in January 2024
| Denver | Philadelphia | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lincoln Cent | 236,400,000 | 176,400,000 | 412,800,000 |
| Jefferson Nickel | 14,640,000 | 13,920,000 | 28,560,000 |
| Roosevelt Dime | 88,400,000 | 32,000,000 | 120,400,000 |
| Quarters | 93,400,000 | 94,000,000 | 187,400,000 |
| Kennedy Half-Dollar | 2,900,000 | 2,800,000 | 5,700,000 |
| Native American $1 Coin | 0 | 1,120,000 | 1,120,000 |
| Total | 435,740,000 | 320,240,000 | 755,980,000 |
In overall production totals for January, the Denver Mint made 435.74 million coins and the Philadelphia Mint made 320.24 million coins for the combined 755.98 million coins, which is, as earlier stated, 37% fewer than the 1,200,460,000 manufactured in January 2023.
If the current production pace were to continue through December, the annual mintage for 2024 would top 9 billion coins. In comparison, the U.S. Mint manufactured over 11.38 billion coins for circulation in 2023, the lowest output since 2012.
Lastly, U.S. Mint figures show that 187.4 million quarters were struck in January. These are Reverend Dr. Pauli Murray quarters with more yet to be minted. As a part of the Mint’s series of American Women Quarters™, the Murray quarter is the eleventh issue overall and first of five for 2024. Reverend Dr. Pauli Murray quarters started circulating Jan. 2. More recently, on Feb. 1, the Mint released rolls and bags of them for sale to the public.
Does anyone actually believe those numbers? I have Both P and D mint Native dollars. They delayed the January report until the END of February. When are they going to report on time and correctly? They have machines that count the blanks and coins. We should KNOW exactly at the end of EACH DAY. Someone NEEDS to audit the Kennedy halves for the last ten years.
ugh another half-billion cents that are destined for couches, gutters, and coin cups nationwide, likely never to be used more than once
I have yet to see ONE 2024 coin and it’s March.