The final circulating coin production and mintage figures for 2024 have been posted to USMint.gov:
https://www.usmint.gov/about/production-sales-figures/circulating-coins-production
Here are the big takeaways…
Pennies: Mintages topped out just above 3.22 billion. That makes 2024 the third year in a row of decreasing cent mintages, less than half of the 2021 levels of 7.9 billion, and well below any year of the 2010s. The last time penny production was this low was in 2009.
Nickels: 112.8 million. That's right, only a tenth of the usual nickel mintage rates of the last decade. Nickel production at the US Mint stopped completely for several months of 2024. Just like with cents, you have to go back to 2009 to find a year with lower mintage. Philadelphia '24 nickels outnumber their Denver siblings three to one, making the 2024-D one of the key dates of the series thus far.
Dimes: 555 million, only one fifth of typical dime productions over the last ten years. Like with nickels, dime production temporarily halted in '24. Again, lowest mintage since… you guessed it, 2009.
Quarters: 1.68 billion struck in 2024 across the five American Women designs, two of which I haven't even encountered in circulation yet. Unlike the other denominations, quarters didn't fall down to 2009 levels. 2024 is about the same as 2019. In the future, quarters will be the easiest coins of the vintage to find in circulation.
Half dollars: Wow! 37.6 million, making 2024 halves the second highest mintage since 2001, second only to the 58 million from 2023. almost half of the half dollars struck in this century so far have been struck in the last four years. Judging on mintages, it sure looks like the half dollar is making a comeback. Anybody out there seeing them in circulation?
Dollar coins: 2.24 million, only enough to meet collector demand. The dollar coin mintages have been on life support ever since the Presidential dollar series ran out of dead presidents in 2016, never more than 3.4 million per year since then. If you're going to own a 2024 dollar coin, you probably already have one; don't hold your breath waiting for it in circulation.
With only 5.6 billion coins struck for circulation in 2024, that year joins 2009 as a historic year for American coin production lows, generating many key and semi-key dates for future collectors. While the 2024 quarters and pennies will never become uncommon, nickels and dimes will quickly become especially scarce.
Why is 2024 this low? Good question. While the 2009 mintages were certainly a response to the Great Recession, 2024 mintages are more likely down due to the rapid increase in cashless transactions. I have traveled across 17 states in the last year, and I am consistently seeing businesses who are not accustomed to handling cash anymore. Self-service payment stations that don't accept cash are increasingly common. A few stores I have encountered require a manager to review and approve cash transactions. Watch out for businesses that quietly pass on a 1-2% surcharge for credit cards though! The National Parks Service no longer accepts or handles cash across the entire park system. On the other hand, many gas stations will give you a discount if you pay with cash!
If US coin mintages continue to trend downward through the remainder of the 2020s, then it will certainly be a result of our society using cash less and less often. If mintages rebound in 2025 or 2026, than 2024 will become a temporary dip in mintages only because existing coins were enough to meet demand that year. We saw that happen in 1997 when mintages unexpectedly fell 30% from the year before. There were simply enough coins in circulation from 1994-1996 to meet commercial demand, and the Federal Reserve banks put in fewer coin order to the Mint. Yet the late 90s economy was strong and continued to get stronger, and mintages continued to set records through Y2K.
