2015 coin production starts strong

For the Chinese it is the Year of the Sheep (Goat), but for the U.S. Mint, it might be called the year of the quarter.

Production numbers are ramping up from last year.

During the first two months of 2015, 667.6 million quarters have come off the presses. This compares to just 356 million in the first two months of 2014.

Production of nickels and dimes also seems to be aiming higher this year but not to the same degree.

Nickel output is up about 38 percent while dimes are up a bit less than 12 percent.

Cent output is almost identical to last year, actually showing a tiny decline of 1.2 million pieces. But in an ocean of over 8 billion cents likely to be produced this year, it is probably just meaningless statistical noise.

The half dollar, Golden dollar and Presidential dollar production numbers are front-end loaded as they must be ready for sale to collectors early in the year.

For the half dollar, the number struck so far is identical to last year and in 2014 no additional coins were struck.

Golden dollar numbers have dropped by almost half to 4.9 million compared to 8.68 million in the first two months of 2014. Last year at this point, no further Golden dollars were produced. If this occurs again this year, collectors will take note of this drastic decline in Golden dollar numbers.

Presidential dollar numbers in 2015 are virtually identical to 2014’s two-month total, 22.68 million compared to 22.96 million.

In 2014, 35.14 million Presidential dollars were struck when all was said and done. If the same pattern holds, we will see more 2015 Presidential dollars, especially with the modern Presidents, Harry Truman to Lyndon Johnson being honored.

At the production rate indicated by the first two months, coin output in 2015 of all denominations would total 16.9 billion pieces compared to 2014’s nearly 13.3 billion. This would be a gain of about 27 percent.