Coin production slides in August
August circulating coin production dropped by 41 percent at the U.S. Mint’s two production facilities. Total output of 831,560,000 compares to 1,403,160,000 in July. Drops were recorded by cents through…
August circulating coin production dropped by 41 percent at the U.S. Mint’s two production facilities.
Total output of 831,560,000 compares to 1,403,160,000 in July.
Drops were recorded by cents through quarters.
Quarters saw the smallest decline at 37.34 percent, while dimes saw the largest decline of 42.37 percent.
The cent production reduction of 41 percent matched the average, while the nickel’s drop of 40.06 percent was close behind.
Demand from the banking system as ordered from the Mint by the Federal Reserve sets output targets.
At the present rate of production, the Mint is on track to strike fewer than 13.8 billion coins in calendar year 2018.
This continues a multi-year downtrend that could be due to an overall decline in the use of cash by consumers.
Peak output after the 2008 banking crisis occurred in 2015, when 17,046,700,000 coins were struck for circulation.
This was the recovery high point after reaching a half-century low in 2009, when coin production was 3.5 billion pieces.
The 2016 output of 16,017,410,000 was down 6 percent from 2015.
The 2017 production of 14,859,360,000 coins was a 7 percent fall.
This article was originally printed in Numismatic News Express. >> Subscribe today
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