Lincoln numbers tantalizing

I think I will pick up where I left off at yesterday’s second blog posting about quarter production and jump back into details of the U.S. Mint’s May production.

With many collector eyes searching for the two Lincoln cent designs that have been released so far this year, I have a good reason to mention how many of the coins they are looking for.

The first design had a total mintage, Denver and Philadelphia combined, of 634,800,000. So far, the numbers for the second design add up to 510,800,000 pieces.

Where the Birthplace design breaks down as 350,400,000 Denver coins and 284,400,000 Philly pieces, the second design at the moment reverses the relative positions. Denver comes in at 199,200,000 coins and Philadelphia at 311,600,000.

Are these final numbers? I don’t think so. The Mint can still strike more in June. Will it do so? That’s where you can place your bets if you are bold enough to do so.

The third design will likely be released in August, though the Mint says the Professional Lincoln cent will be released sometime during the summer. August is three months after the May release of the second design and May was three months after the release of the first design in February.

To have a supply of the third design, the Mint obviously will have to begin production beforehand. How much beforehand will determine how many of the second design will be produced.

Right now it would seem that the Mint is on track to strike at least as many of the second design as the first.