U.S. Mint 2024 Annual Coin Production Drops to Lowest Level Since Post-Great Recession Recovery

In 2024, U.S. Mint data showed a fourth straight year of declining coin production, with annual output reaching its lowest level since the post-Great Recession recovery.

Coin production at U.S. Mint facilities declined sharply in 2024, continuing a trend observed over the past four years. According to data released by the Mint, a total of 5.613 billion coins were delivered to Federal Reserve Banks for circulation, marking a significant 50.7% decrease compared to the 11.381 billion coins struck in 2023. This output also represents the lowest annual total since 2009, when 3.548 billion coins were minted for circulation during a year heavily impacted by the Great Recession, which ended mid-year.

The U.S. Mint’s primary mission is to manufacture coins in response to public demand. It produces, sells, and delivers circulating coins to Federal Reserve Banks and their coin terminals, enabling these entities to meet the needs of commercial banks and other financial institutions.

The Mint’s facilities in Philadelphia and Denver are responsible for manufacturing all U.S. coins for commerce. In 2024, the Philadelphia Mint produced 2,937,740,000 coins, while the Denver Mint made 2,675,900,000 coins.

Despite costing the Mint 3.07 cents to produce and distribute each 1-cent coin, the Federal Reserve consistently orders more pennies than any other denomination.

Last year, the Mint struck over 3.2 billion cents, the lowest annual total since more than 2.3 billion Lincoln Bicentennial cents were produced in 2009. These cents accounted for 57.5% of the total coin production for 2024.

In contrast, 2023 saw over 4.5 billion cents minted – the lowest annual total since 4 billion were struck in 2010 – making up 39.7% of the year’s total coin production. In 2022, more than 6.3 billion cents were struck, representing 46.7% of the combined production total. A year earlier, in 2021, the Mint produced over 7.9 billion cents, accounting for 54.6% of all circulating coins. Among recent years, 2024 and 2021 are the most representative of the historical ratio of cents to overall production.

In 2024, the Mint experienced a stretch of four consecutive months without producing any nickels and another three months without minting dimes. Similar to the cent, both denominations recorded their lowest annual mintages since 2009.

The U.S. Mint also produces other circulating-quality coins, including half dollars and dollars. While Native American $1 coins are no longer ordered by the Federal Reserve, they continue to be struck in circulating quality for collectors. This was also true for Kennedy half dollars until recent years – 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024.

Typically, the Mint produces both denominations in January to meet the expected demand for the entire year. However, this pattern was disrupted for Kennedy half dollars over the past years, as the Federal Reserve unexpectedly ordered additional coins for circulation – approximately 12 million in 2021, 7 million in 2022, and 18 million in 2023.

In 2024, Kennedy half dollars were once again minted for general circulation. Production figures increased incrementally across several months: January (+5.7 million), March (+1.9 million), April (+2.6 million), May (+3.2 million), June (+4.9 million), July (+3.2 million), October (+5.6 million), November (+7.3 million), and December (+3.2 million). The latest totals show 15.7 million coins from Philadelphia and 21.9 million from Denver, combining for 37.6 million. This is notably lower than the 2023 production run, which reached 27.8 million from Denver and 30.2 million from Philadelphia, totaling 58 million – the highest since 1983’s mintage of 66.6 million.

Meanwhile, the Native American dollar’s production schedule deviated from the norm. Instead of being completed in January, mintages were adjusted in February due to no reported production activity in Denver during January. Since February, the total mintage has remained at 2.24 million coins, evenly split with 1.12 million from both Denver and Philadelphia, matching the 2023 total.

In addition to the 2024 Native American dollar with its one-year-only design, the U.S. Mint also released the five coins for 2024 from its four