In May, for the second consecutive month, the United States Mint increased its pace of striking coins for circulation. However, the monthly production level remained well below 1 billion for the ninth month in a row, following eight consecutive months above that threshold.
The U.S. Mint produced over 396 million coins, including cents, nickels, dimes, quarters, and half dollars, representing a 7.6% increase from April but a 72.1% drop from May 2022. Additionally, the Mint published mintages for the 2024 Patsy Takemoto Mink quarter for the first time.
Here’s how the month compares to others in the past year:
May 2023 to May 2024 Circulating Coin Production
| Month | Mintages | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| May 2024 | 396.08 M | 10 |
| April 2024 | 368.20 M | 12 |
| March 2024 | 332.70 M | 11 |
| February 2024 | 644.86 M | 6 |
| January 2024 | 755.98 M | 5 |
| December 2023 | 151.80 M | 13 |
| November 2023 | 604.409 M | 7 |
| October 2023 | 501.911 M | 9 |
| September 2023 | 546.03 M | 8 |
| August 2023 | 1,030.38 M | 4 |
| July 2023 | 1,139.30 M | 3 |
| June 2023 | 1,297.18 M | 2 |
| May 2023 | 1,417.78 M | 1 |
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 May, the Mint struck 211.6 million Lincoln cents, accounting for 53.4% of all circulating-quality coins produced for the month.
Month-Over-Month
In May, the U.S. Mint reported producing nickels and dimes for the first time in three months. In month-over-month comparisons for other coins used daily by Americans, production totals showed modest increases of 0.2% for Lincoln cents and 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. Nonetheless, this 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. However, production figures changed in January, March, April, and May, with the latest results showing 5.1 million coins from Philadelphia and 8.3 million from Denver, totaling 13.4 million. These figures compare 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 the usual practice, the mintages of the Native American dollar were adjusted in February instead of being completed in January. This change was prompted by the absence of reported minting activity for the dollar in Denver throughout January. As of February, the total dollar mintage stands at 2.24 million coins, with 1.12 million each from Denver and Philadelphia, matching the 2023 total. No changes were reported in March, April, or May.
On Jan. 29, the U.S. Mint started selling Denver- and Philadelphia-minted rolls, bags, and boxes of 2024 Native American dollars. More recently, on April 23, the bureau started offering 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 May 2024
| Denver | Philadelphia | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lincoln Cent | 106,000,000 | 105,600,000 | 211,600,000 |
| Jefferson Nickel | 0 | 5,280,000 | 5,280,000 |
| Roosevelt Dime | 0 | 17,000,000 | 17,000,000 |
| Quarters | 79,800,000 | 79,200,000 | 159,000,000 |
| Kennedy Half-Dollar | 3,200,000 | 0 | 3,200,000 |
| Native American $1 Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 189,000,000 | 207,080,000 | 396,080,000 |
In the overall production totals for May, the Denver Mint produced 189 million coins, while the Philadelphia Mint produced 207.8 million coins, resulting in a combined total of 396.08 million coins.
Year-to-date, the Denver Mint has struck 1,282,980,000 coins, and the Philadelphia Mint has made 1,214,840,000 coins, bringing the total to 2,497,820,000 coins. This is 59.1% fewer than the 6,110,660,000 coins manufactured during the same period in 2023.
If the current production pace were to continue through December, the annual mintage for 2024 would reach 5.99 billion coins. In comparison, the U.S. Mint manufactured over 11.38 billion coins for circulation in 2023, marking the lowest output since 2012.
This next table lists coin production totals by denomination and by U.S. Mint facility:
YTD 2024 Circulating Coin Production by Denomination
| 1 ¢ | 5 ¢ | 10 ¢ | 25 ¢ | 50 ¢ | N.A. $1 | Total: | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denver | 740.4M | 29.76M | 123M | 380.4M | 8.3M | 1.12M | 1282.98M |
| Philadelphia | 692.8M | 36.72M | 92.5M | 386.6M | 5.1M | 1.12M | 1214.84M |
| Total | 1433.2M | 66.48M | 215.5M | 767M | 13.4M | 2.24M | 2497.82M |
2024 Patsy Takemoto Mink Quarter Mintages
In addition to the 2024 Native American dollar with its one-year-only design, the U.S. Mint has also released the first two of five issues for 2024 from their four-year program of American Women Quarters™. These two coins represent the eleventh and twelfth overall in the series, each featuring a unique design.
The Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray quarter, the first quarter design for this year, began circulating on Jan. 2. On Feb. 1, the Mint made rolls and bags of the quarter available for purchase by the public. First reported in March figures and unchanged since, a total of 354.2 million Murray quarters were minted, with 185.8 million coming from Denver and 168.4 million from Philadelphia. This marks the lowest mintage total for any quarter in the series to date. In terms of production by facility across the series, the 2024-P ranks as the scarcest, while the 2024-D ties for third scarcest.
For the first time, the U.S. Mint published mintages for the Patsy Takemoto Mink quarter. Mink quarters entered circulation on March 25, and on March 28, the U.S. Mint began selling rolls and bags of them to the public. The latest figures show Patsy Takemoto Mink quarter mintages at 187.2 million from Denver and 210.2 million from Philadelphia, for a combined 397.4 million, ranking fourth lowest overall in the series. By production facility, however, the 2024-D Mink quarter ranks as the third scarcest.
Of the total production, 15.4 million quarters have not yet been officially assigned a design by the U.S. Mint. This represents a small portion of the Dr. Mary Edwards Walker quarters. Walker quarters entered circulation on June 3, and on June 17, the U.S. Mint will begin selling rolls and bags of them to the public.
