The Coin Collecting Den

The Mint has released production figures for circulating coins through November 2009. Total production for the month was only 76.06 million coins, a decrease of nearly 80% from October and the lowest production in years.

These figures include the final mintages for the Zachary Taylor Presidential Dollar and the Northern Mariana Islands quarter. Only Lincoln cents, Presidential Dollars, and NMI quarters were produced during November. Cents and dollars were produced at the Philadelphia Mint, while the Denver Mint produced cents and quarters.

The table below shows coin production for both November and year to date.

November 2009 US Mint Coin Production Figures

Denomination & Production Site	November 2009	January - November 2009
Lincoln Cent - Denver	53.60 M	1,248.00 M
Lincoln Cent - Philadelphia	8.00 M	1,106.00 M
Jefferson Nickel - Denver	0	46.80 M
Jefferson Nickel - Philadelphia	0	39.84 M
Roosevelt Dime - Denver	0	49.50 M
Roosevelt Dime - Philadelphia	0	96.50 M
Quarters - Denver	11.80 M	269.60 M
Quarters - Philadelphia	0	264.32 M
Kennedy Half Dollar - Denver	0	1.90 M
Kennedy Half Dollar- Philadelphia	0	1.90 M
Native American Dollar - Denver	0	33.88 M
Native American Dollar - Philadelphia	0	37.38 M
Presidential Dollar - Denver	0	177.10 M
Presidential Dollar - Philadelphia	2.66 M	175.28 M
Total	76.06 M	3,548.00 M

Three denominations (Lincoln cents, Presidential dollars, quarters) featured multiple reverse designs that rotated over the course of the year. The table below breaks down the total production figures for the year by reverse design. Of note: It has not yet been confirmed if production of the Lincoln cent Presidency design has ended, so the table only lists totals for the first three Lincoln cent designs. By subtracting the totals for these first three designs from the totals through November given above, possible mintages for the Presidency Cent come in at 198.00 million Denver Mint coins and 129.60 million Philadelphia Mint coins, assuming no further production in December. These totals are substantially less than the first three designs.

Denomination	Denver	Philadelphia	Total
Birthplace Cent	350.40 M	284.40 M	634.80 M
Formative Years Cent	363.60 M	376.00 M	739.60 M
Professional Life Cent	336.00 M	316.00 M	652.00 M
Presidency Cent
Total
Harrison Presidential Dollar	55.16 M	43.26 M	98.42 M
Tyler Presidential Dollar	43.54 M	43.54 M	87.08 M
Polk Presidential Dollar	41.72 M	46.62 M	88.34 M
Taylor Presidential Dollar	36.68 M	41.58 M	78.26 M
Total			352.10 M
DC Quarter	88.80 M	83.60 M	172.40 M
Puerto Rico Quarter	86.00 M	53.20 M	139.20 M
Guam Quarter	42.60 M	45.00 M	87.60 M
Am Samoa Quarter	39.60 M	42.60 M	82.20 M
US Virgin Islands Quarter	41.00 M	41.00 M	82.00 M
N Mariana Islands Quarter	37.60 M	35.20 M	72.80 M
Total			636.20 M

The Mint launched the US Virgin Islands quarter on Friday with a ceremony on the island of St. Thomas. The reverse design includes: an outline of the territory’s three major islands; the Bananaquit, the official bird of the United States Virgin Islands; the Yellow Cedar or Yellow Elder, its official flower; and a Tyre Palm Tree.  Inscriptions on the coin’s reverse are U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS and United in Pride and Hope. The Virgin Islands quarter is the fifth of six in the series of US territories and Washington, D.C. The sixth and final design, honoring the Northern Mariana islands will be released in late November.

If the previous four issues in the series are any indication, this will be another tough one to find in circulation, at least for a while. Total mintage of 82 million ties the American Samoa quarter for lowest production this year, less than half of the 172 million Washington, D.C. quarters produced to begin the series.