Coin output up but dimes drop

Coin production at the U.S. Mint’s Philadelphia and Denver facilities rose about 8 percent in June from May.

Higher cent output led the gains. Nickels and quarters also rose, but dime output fell from the earlier month.

Overall, production in June total 1,252,880,000 compared to 1,156,340,000 in May.

Cents increased by 101.2 million coins. The May level was 631.6 million while June was 732.8 million. This works out to a 16 percent output gain.

Nickels were up by almost 22 million pieces. The May number was 115.44 million while June was 137.28 million.

For nickels, the 19 percent gain was even larger than that for cents. But in sheer numbers, cent output was five times nickels.

Dime output fell. It dropped 48.5 million coins to 223 million. This compares to 271.5 million May, an 18 percent decline.

Quarter numbers seemed to be in a race to the bottom of the output standings, but they beat nickel production. The 159.8 million coins struck in June were 22 million higher than the 115.44 million May figure.

The quarter increase was 19 percent, the same as nickels.

No half dollars or Native American dollars were struck in June. Nearly all of the 2017 total was produced in January.

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