Should You Collect the 2025 Penny?
Low mintages and production pauses may make 2025 Lincoln cents and other U.S. coins stand out for collectors seeking modern rarities.
It’s too early to be certain, but it appears 2025 may be a low-mintage year for the shield reverse Lincoln cent. No Lincoln cents were struck in August or September. This follows an anemic mintage of 400,000 cents minted in July, representing a mere 0.1% of circulation strike coinage produced that month.
Normally, the cent has accounted for more than half of monthly production at the U.S. Mint, despite its negative seigniorage contribution. The president has made no secret of his displeasure with the mint losing money on this coin; however, Congress, rather than the president, has the constitutional power to “coin money” and “regulate the value” of that money. Of course, Congress can simply find a way not to approve of any 1-cent coin productions for 2026 and then extend that indefinitely.
In general, the mint has not produced as many circulation strike coins as it had been in the past. Nickel, dime, quarter, and half-dollar mintages for September were 24.3% higher than in August; however, they were 50.7% lower than what had been struck during September one year earlier.
Collectors may be surprised, but it appears a significant number of 2025 Kennedy half dollars have entered circulation. It’s not clear how many of them actually circulate and how many are hoarded as soon as they are encountered. It’s obvious Joe Average isn’t using as many coins as he did in the past, but nevertheless, coins are in circulation and don’t appear to be going away, despite the wishes of the cashless society folks. These recent low mintage numbers, however, may indicate 2025-dated coins may prove to be a better date to collect.
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