Mint >> August 2010

Mintages for Jan-August 2010 are released:

1cent = 2.75763 B
5cents = 245.52 M
10cents = 725.0 M
25cents = 267.4 M
50cents = 3.5 M
1dollar = 342.16 M (including 75.04 M native dollars)

Isolating the August 2010 numbers:

1cent = 450.8 M
5cents = 53.28 M
10cents = 139.0 M
25cents = 58.0 M
50cents = none
1dollar = 42.7 M (all Presidents)

July's production levels were maintained in August. Cents, nickels, and dimes are continuing at production levels higher than the early part of the year, though not as strong as their peak in June. This is also true for the mint output overall. Quarters and dollars gained a little bit in August.

Where are the quarters? Quarters are the workhorse of US coinage, with high demand and interest. Yet, 2009 and estimated 2010 quarter mintages combined are less than half of the lowest of the state quarter yearly mintages (2003). I am very surprised that quarter mintages have not yet returned to 1-billion-plus mintages, and it looks like 2011 won't be that year either. The country is still awash in state quarters, based on what I see in my change.

My predictions for 2010 final mintages: 4 billion cents, 375 million nickels, 1 billion dimes, 4 billion quarters, and 500 million dollars... 6.5 billion coins total. This is an 80% gain over 2009, but still only 65% of 2008's mintages.