Research
119 U.S. Coin Production Statistics
Every figure on this page is sourced to the body that published it — U.S. Mint annual reports, the Treasury, the Federal Reserve, the Census Bureau and SEC filings. No aggregators, no secondary roundups.
By CoinShop Finder · Published July 21, 2026 · Last updated October 13, 2026
The short version
A penny cost 3.02 cents to produce in FY2025, the final year of production — not the 3.69 cents reported almost everywhere, which is the FY2024 figure. And the 114 billion pennies said to be in circulation is a number the Federal Reserve Bank of New York published in September 1999.
This page assembles 119 statistics across coin production costs, shipments, seigniorage, bullion sales and metal prices, drawn from 12 primary documents. The FY2013–FY2025 series were cross-checked between overlapping annual reports — each Mint annual report restates its two prior years, and all seven overlapping years matched exactly. 21 figures are arithmetic performed on published numbers rather than numbers a source prints directly; each of those is labelled inline.
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How Much Does It Cost to Make a Penny?
The U.S. Mint reports a full unit cost for every circulating denomination each fiscal year, broken into cost of goods sold, selling and administrative overhead, and distribution to the Federal Reserve. The figure most widely quoted during the penny's retirement — 3.69 cents — is the FY2024 number.
3.02 cents the total unit cost to produce and distribute a penny in FY2025, the final fiscal year of penny production. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
Source location: Unit Cost of Producing and Distributing Coins by Denomination table. Link to this statistic
3.69 cents the FY2024 unit cost — the figure cited by both the Mint and the Treasury when penny production ended, and the number that circulated throughout the news coverage. (U.S. Mint, FY2024 Annual Report, 2024)
18.2% the fall in the penny's unit cost between FY2024 and FY2025. The fiscal year ending 30 September 2025 closed six weeks before the final penny was struck on 12 November 2025. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
Source location: Unit Cost of Producing and Distributing Coins by Denomination table. Link to this statistic
Derived: Computed from the two published unit costs: (3.69 − 3.02) ÷ 3.69.
2.32 cents of the penny's FY2025 unit cost was cost of goods sold — the metal and the manufacturing. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
Source location: Unit Cost of Producing and Distributing Coins by Denomination table. Link to this statistic
0.67 cents was selling, general and administrative overhead, more than a fifth of the penny's total FY2025 cost. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
Source location: Unit Cost of Producing and Distributing Coins by Denomination table. Link to this statistic
0.03 cents was the cost of distributing each penny to the Federal Reserve Banks. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
Source location: Unit Cost of Producing and Distributing Coins by Denomination table. Link to this statistic
202% more than face value — what a penny cost to make in FY2025, at 3.02 cents against a 1 cent face. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
Derived: Computed from the published unit cost: (3.02 − 1) ÷ 1.
20 consecutive fiscal years in which the penny and the nickel both cost more than face value to produce, a streak running back to FY2006. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
The penny's cost over 13 years
1.43 cents the penny's cheapest year in the FY2013–FY2025 series, recorded in FY2015. No year in the series is lower. (U.S. Mint, FY2015 Annual Report, 2015)
1.83 cents what a penny cost in FY2013, at the start of the series. (U.S. Mint, FY2015 Annual Report, 2015)
1.50 cents the FY2016 unit cost, the second-cheapest year on record in the series. (U.S. Mint, FY2016 Annual Report, 2016)
2.06 cents the FY2018 unit cost, the first year the penny crossed two cents. (U.S. Mint, FY2019 Annual Report, 2019)
2.10 cents the FY2021 unit cost, before three consecutive years of sharp increases. (U.S. Mint, FY2021 Annual Report, 2021)
3.07 cents the FY2023 unit cost — the first year the penny passed three cents. (U.S. Mint, FY2023 Annual Report, 2023)
65% the increase in the penny's unit cost across the whole series, from 1.83 cents in FY2013 to 3.02 cents in FY2025. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
Derived: Computed from the FY2013 and FY2025 published unit costs: (3.02 − 1.83) ÷ 1.83.
Three different baselines for the same claim
1.3 cents the ten-year baseline the Treasury used in December 2025, writing that the penny's cost had risen "from 1.3 cents to 3.69 cents." (U.S. Treasury, Penny Production Cessation FAQs, 2025)
Measurement caveat: No fiscal year in the Mint's FY2013–FY2025 series records a penny unit cost of 1.3 cents.
1.42 cents the ten-year baseline the Mint used three weeks earlier, in the press release announcing the final strike. (U.S. Mint, final one-cent coin press release, 2025)
1.43 cents the FY2015 figure as printed in the Mint's own annual report for that year — a third value for the same ten-year comparison. (U.S. Mint, FY2015 Annual Report, 2015)
How Much Does It Cost to Make a Nickel, a Dime and a Quarter?
The penny is not the only denomination that costs more than it is worth. The nickel has lost money in every year of the series, and by a wider margin per coin than the penny.
The nickel
13.31 cents the FY2025 unit cost of a five-cent coin — more than two and a half times its face value. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
Source location: Unit Cost of Producing and Distributing Coins by Denomination table. Link to this statistic
166% more than face value, the nickel's FY2025 premium — a smaller relative overrun than the penny's 202%. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
Derived: Computed from the published unit cost: (13.31 − 5) ÷ 5.
13.78 cents the nickel's FY2024 unit cost, the highest in the series. (U.S. Mint, FY2024 Annual Report, 2024)
6.32 cents the nickel's cheapest year, FY2016 — less than half what it cost by FY2024. (U.S. Mint, FY2016 Annual Report, 2016)
9.41 cents the nickel's FY2013 unit cost at the start of the series. (U.S. Mint, FY2015 Annual Report, 2015)
Every single year of the FY2013–FY2025 series, the nickel cost more than five cents to produce. Its cheapest year still ran 26% over face value. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
Derived: Observed across the 13 published annual unit-cost figures; FY2016 overrun is (6.32 − 5) ÷ 5.
The dime and the quarter
6.77 cents the FY2025 unit cost of a dime — comfortably below its ten-cent face value. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
Source location: Unit Cost of Producing and Distributing Coins by Denomination table. Link to this statistic
14.53 cents the FY2025 unit cost of a quarter, against a 25 cent face value. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
Source location: Unit Cost of Producing and Distributing Coins by Denomination table. Link to this statistic
The only denomination to get more expensive in FY2025 was the dime, up 17.5% from 5.76 cents to 6.77 cents. The penny, nickel, quarter and half dollar all fell. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
Derived: Computed by comparing all five FY2024 and FY2025 published unit costs.
3.08 cents the dime's cheapest year, FY2016 — less than half its FY2025 cost. (U.S. Mint, FY2016 Annual Report, 2016)
7.63 cents the quarter's cheapest year, also FY2016. (U.S. Mint, FY2016 Annual Report, 2016)
27.81 cents the FY2025 unit cost of a half dollar, below its 50 cent face value. It is the most expensive circulating denomination to produce per coin, but still returns positive seigniorage. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
Source location: Unit Cost of Producing and Distributing Coins by Denomination table. Link to this statistic
33.97 cents the half dollar's FY2024 unit cost, the highest recorded for any circulating denomination in the series. (U.S. Mint, FY2024 Annual Report, 2024)
| Fiscal year | Penny | Nickel | Dime | Quarter | Half |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 1.83¢ | 9.41¢ | 4.56¢ | 10.50¢ | — |
| 2014 | 1.66¢ | 8.09¢ | 3.91¢ | 8.95¢ | — |
| 2015 | 1.43¢ | 7.44¢ | 3.54¢ | 8.44¢ | — |
| 2016 | 1.50¢ | 6.32¢ | 3.08¢ | 7.63¢ | — |
| 2017 | 1.82¢ | 6.60¢ | 3.33¢ | 8.24¢ | — |
| 2018 | 2.06¢ | 7.53¢ | 3.73¢ | 8.87¢ | 6.58¢ |
| 2019 | 1.99¢ | 7.62¢ | 3.73¢ | 9.01¢ | — |
| 2020 | 1.76¢ | 7.42¢ | 3.73¢ | 8.62¢ | 25.00¢ |
| 2021 | 2.10¢ | 8.52¢ | 4.39¢ | 9.63¢ | 11.67¢ |
| 2022 | 2.72¢ | 10.41¢ | 5.03¢ | 11.11¢ | 17.15¢ |
| 2023 | 3.07¢ | 11.54¢ | 5.30¢ | 11.63¢ | 25.98¢ |
| 2024 | 3.69¢ | 13.78¢ | 5.76¢ | 14.68¢ | 33.97¢ |
| 2025 | 3.02¢ | 13.31¢ | 6.77¢ | 14.53¢ | 27.81¢ |
How Many Pennies Are in Circulation?
This is the most widely repeated statistic about the penny, and it is also the least current. The 114 billion figure quoted throughout the 2025 retirement coverage traces back to a Federal Reserve circular published in September 1999.
The number everyone cites, and where it actually comes from
114 billion pennies described by the Treasury in December 2025 as "the roughly 114 billion pennies currently in existence" that the Federal Reserve would continue to recirculate. (U.S. Treasury, Penny Production Cessation FAQs, 2025)
September 1, 1999 the date of Federal Reserve Bank of New York Circular No. 11182, which states that "more than 114 billion pennies are estimated to be in active circulation" — the same figure, 27 years earlier. (Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Circular No. 11182, 1999)
Measurement caveat: The most-quoted statistic about the U.S. penny stock appears to be a 1999 estimate that has been repeated ever since, not a current measurement.
426 pennies per person the per-capita figure the 1999 circular gives alongside its 114 billion estimate, described as "almost 426 pennies for every man, woman, and child in the country." (Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Circular No. 11182, 1999)
342,620,143 people the current U.S. population according to the Census Bureau's population clock. (U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. and World Population Clock, 2026)
333 pennies per person what 114 billion pennies actually works out to at today's population — not 426. The circular's per-capita figure only reconciles with a population of roughly 268 million, which is where the United States was in the mid-1990s. (U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. and World Population Clock, 2026)
Derived: Computed by dividing the New York Fed's 114 billion estimate by the Census Bureau's current population, and separately by dividing 114 billion by the circular's own 426 figure to recover the population it implies.
312 billion pennies produced over the preceding 30 years, according to the same 1999 circular. This is a cumulative production figure, not a circulation figure. (Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Circular No. 11182, 1999)
Measurement caveat: "Pennies produced" and "pennies in circulation" are different measures. Reporting that describes 300-billion-plus as the number in circulation is conflating the two — and quoting a 1999 document either way.
What the Mint has actually shipped since
89.8 billion pennies shipped to Federal Reserve Banks across FY2013–FY2025 alone — roughly four-fifths of the entire 114 billion figure still being quoted as the circulating stock. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
Derived: Sum of the penny column of the Mint's published shipment tables across the 13 fiscal years.
Measurement caveat: Shipments to Reserve Banks are not the same as net additions to circulation; coins also return, wear out and are withdrawn. This is directional evidence of how heavily the penny stock has to be replenished, not a stock reconciliation.
13 billion pennies the production the Mint planned for calendar 1999 alone, per the same circular, to meet a penny shortage it attributed to public hoarding. (Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Circular No. 11182, 1999)
3.6 billion pennies shipped between January and April 1999 — a 33% increase over the same months of 1998, which had itself been 29% above 1997. (Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Circular No. 11182, 1999)
"Americans are stockpiling pennies" the Federal Reserve's own 1999 explanation for the shortage, after finding no other event that would explain demand at those levels. (Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Circular No. 11182, 1999)
Why Did the U.S. Stop Making Pennies?
Penny production ended on 12 November 2025. The Treasury's stated rationale rests on production cost and a projected saving — two figures that measure different things and are frequently reported as if they were the same.
12 November 2025 the date of the ceremonial final strike of the circulating one-cent coin at the Philadelphia Mint. (U.S. Mint, final one-cent coin press release, 2025)
$56 million a year the immediate annual saving in reduced material costs the Mint projected from ending penny production. (U.S. Treasury, Penny Production Cessation FAQs, 2025)
Measurement caveat: This is a material-cost saving. It is not the penny's total loss, which includes overhead and distribution and is considerably larger.
$95.6 million the penny's actual negative seigniorage in FY2025 — the full loss including overhead, and 71% more than the projected saving. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
Source location: Shipments, Costs, and Seigniorage by Denomination table, FY2025 Seigniorage row. Link to this statistic
Derived: Comparison of the Mint's published FY2025 penny seigniorage against the Treasury's projected saving.
$925.0 million the penny's cumulative loss across FY2013–FY2025. Just short of a billion dollars in 13 years. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
Derived: Sum of the penny column of the Mint's published seigniorage tables across the 13 fiscal years.
Still legal tender the penny retains its full monetary value indefinitely; the Treasury confirmed it remains an acceptable form of payment after production ceased. (U.S. Treasury, Penny Production Cessation FAQs, 2025)
Rounding to the nearest five cents the Treasury's guidance for cash transactions once pennies are unavailable, applied only after all duties, fees and taxes are calculated. (U.S. Treasury, Penny Production Cessation FAQs, 2025)
No effect on consumer prices the Treasury's stated expectation, on the basis that cash totals will round down as often as they round up. Non-cash transactions are unaffected. (U.S. Treasury, Penny Production Cessation FAQs, 2025)
The final year, in production terms
4,765 million pennies shipped in FY2025 — the fiscal year in which penny production ended. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
50.2% more pennies shipped in FY2025 than in FY2024, when 3,172 million went out. The Mint shipped substantially more pennies in the year it wound the programme down than in the year before it. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
Derived: Computed from the two published shipment figures: (4,765 − 3,172) ÷ 3,172.
50% more penny shipments coincided with a fall in cost of goods sold per penny, from 3.00 to 2.32 cents, between FY2024 and FY2025. These figures do not isolate what caused the change. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
Source location: Unit Cost of Producing and Distributing Coins by Denomination and Shipments, Costs, and Seigniorage by Denomination tables. Link to this statistic
Derived: Comparison of published FY2024 and FY2025 cost-of-goods-sold and shipment figures.
$48.3 million the face value of all pennies shipped in FY2025, against $143.9 million in gross cost to produce them. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
$1.98 lost per dollar issued the penny's FY2025 seigniorage per dollar — the Mint lost nearly two dollars for every dollar of pennies it put out. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
How Many Coins Does the U.S. Mint Produce Each Year?
Circulating coin production is reported annually by denomination. Output swings sharply with Federal Reserve demand, and the last three years include both the lowest and a sharply rebounding year in the series.
8 billion coins produced for circulation in FY2025, across all denominations. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
7,972 million coins the precise FY2025 shipment total to Federal Reserve Banks. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
35.8% increase in total coin shipments between FY2024 and FY2025. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
5,871 million coins the FY2024 total — the lowest shipment year in the FY2013–FY2025 series. (U.S. Mint, FY2024 Annual Report, 2024)
16,308 million coins the FY2016 total, the highest in the series and nearly triple FY2024. (U.S. Mint, FY2016 Annual Report, 2016)
Derived: Ratio computed from the two published shipment totals.
10,696 million coins shipped in FY2013, at the start of the series. (U.S. Mint, FY2015 Annual Report, 2015)
60% of every coin shipped in FY2025 was a penny — 4,765 million of 7,972 million, even in the year production ended. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
Derived: Computed from the published FY2025 shipment figures: 4,765 ÷ 7,972.
By denomination, FY2025
615 million nickels shipped in FY2025. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
1,315 million dimes shipped in FY2025. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
1,241 million quarters shipped in FY2025. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
36 million half dollars shipped in FY2025 — the highest half dollar year since FY2018. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
202 million nickels shipped in FY2024, the lowest nickel output in the series by a wide margin. (U.S. Mint, FY2024 Annual Report, 2024)
1792 the year the U.S. Mint was established. It is the world's largest coin manufacturer. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
6 facilities and nearly 1,400 employees the Mint's footprint — Philadelphia and Denver strike circulating coins, San Francisco and West Point produce numismatic and bullion products, Fort Knox stores gold reserves, and headquarters is in Washington, D.C. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
Since FY1996 the Mint has operated under the Public Enterprise Fund, meaning it funds itself from coin sales rather than an annual appropriation. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
| Fiscal year | Penny | Nickel | Dime | Quarter | Half | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 6,610 | 1,123 | 1,901 | 1,062 | — | 10,696 |
| 2014 | 7,920 | 1,211 | 2,223 | 1,683 | — | 13,037 |
| 2015 | 9,155 | 1,477 | 2,874 | 2,645 | — | 16,151 |
| 2016 | 9,114 | 1,578 | 3,134 | 2,482 | — | 16,308 |
| 2017 | 8,426 | 1,306 | 2,410 | 1,926 | — | 14,068 |
| 2018 | 8,057 | 1,327 | 2,381 | 1,895 | 8 | 13,668 |
| 2019 | 7,315 | 1,153 | 2,215 | 1,783 | — | 12,466 |
| 2020 | 8,174 | 1,598 | 2,801 | 2,906 | — | 15,479 |
| 2021 | 7,613 | 1,736 | 3,066 | 2,274 | 12 | 14,701 |
| 2022 | 5,387 | 1,442 | 2,849 | 2,426 | 7 | 12,111 |
| 2023 | 4,136 | 1,416 | 2,666 | 2,274 | 18 | 10,510 |
| 2024 | 3,172 | 202 | 840 | 1,605 | 52 | 5,871 |
| 2025 | 4,765 | 615 | 1,315 | 1,241 | 36 | 7,972 |
How Much Money Does the U.S. Mint Make?
Seigniorage is the difference between a coin's face value and what it costs to produce. It is transferred to the Treasury General Fund, and in FY2025 it collapsed to the lowest level in the series.
$34.2 million total circulating seigniorage in FY2025 — the lowest in the FY2013–FY2025 series. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
94.1% below peak FY2025 seigniorage against the FY2016 high of $578.7 million. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
Derived: Computed from the two published seigniorage totals: (578.7 − 34.2) ÷ 578.7.
$0.06 per dollar issued FY2025 seigniorage per dollar of coins issued, down from $0.37 in FY2021. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
$99.5 million FY2024 seigniorage — itself a steep fall from $249.0 million in FY2023. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
$2,624.2 million total Mint revenue in FY2025, across circulating, bullion and numismatic operations. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
$539.7 million circulating revenue in FY2025. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
$505.5 million the gross cost of the circulating programme in FY2025, against that $539.7 million of revenue. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
$73.0 million total seigniorage and net income before protection expenses in FY2025. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
Which coins pay for the others
$130.5 million the quarter's FY2025 seigniorage — the single largest contributor, and the coin that funds the losses elsewhere. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
$42.7 million the dime's FY2025 seigniorage. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
$7.9 million the half dollar's FY2025 seigniorage, its best year in the series. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
$50.9 million lost on the nickel in FY2025. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
$567.6 million lost on the nickel cumulatively across FY2013–FY2025. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
Derived: Sum of the nickel column of the published seigniorage tables across 13 fiscal years.
$1.49 billion the combined 13-year loss on the penny and the nickel together. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
Derived: Sum of the penny ($925.0m) and nickel ($567.6m) cumulative losses.
FY2023 the one year in the series when the nickel lost more money than the penny — $92.6 million against $86.0 million. The larger loss-maker was not the coin that was retired. (U.S. Mint, FY2023 Annual Report, 2023)
Derived: Comparison of the published penny and nickel seigniorage figures across all 13 years.
$476.3 million the quarter's FY2020 seigniorage, the highest single-denomination figure in the series. (U.S. Mint, FY2021 Annual Report, 2021)
| Fiscal year | Penny | Nickel | Dime | Quarter | Half | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | ($55.0) | ($49.5) | $103.5 | $154.1 | — | $137.4 |
| 2014 | ($52.9) | ($37.6) | $135.2 | $270.5 | — | $289.1 |
| 2015 | ($38.5) | ($35.9) | $185.7 | $438.1 | — | $540.9 |
| 2016 | ($46.0) | ($20.8) | $217.0 | $431.4 | — | $578.7 |
| 2017 | ($68.8) | ($21.0) | $160.5 | $322.7 | — | $391.5 |
| 2018 | ($85.5) | ($33.5) | $149.5 | $305.6 | $3.3 | $321.1 |
| 2019 | ($72.6) | ($30.3) | $138.8 | $285.2 | — | $318.3 |
| 2020 | ($62.2) | ($38.8) | $175.6 | $476.3 | $0.1 | $549.9 |
| 2021 | ($83.6) | ($61.0) | $172.0 | $349.3 | $4.6 | $381.2 |
| 2022 | ($93.0) | ($78.0) | $141.6 | $337.1 | $2.3 | $310.2 |
| 2023 | ($86.0) | ($92.6) | $125.5 | $304.0 | $4.3 | $249.0 |
| 2024 | ($85.3) | ($17.7) | $35.6 | $165.6 | $8.4 | $99.5 |
| 2025 | ($95.6) | ($50.9) | $42.7 | $130.5 | $7.9 | $34.2 |
How Many Gold and Silver Coins Does the Mint Sell?
The Mint is the world's largest producer of gold and silver bullion coins, sold through authorized purchasers at spot plus a premium. Bullion is reported separately from circulating coinage.
15.0 million ounces of gold and silver bullion coins sold in FY2025. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
$1,594.4 million total bullion revenue in FY2025. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
360,500 ounces of gold bullion sold in FY2025, across the American Eagle and American Buffalo programmes. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
224,000 ounces of American Eagle gold sold in FY2025, generating $662.8 million. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
136,500 ounces of American Buffalo gold sold in FY2025, generating $414.1 million. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
14,591 thousand ounces of American Eagle silver sold in FY2025 — the overwhelming majority of bullion ounces by volume. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
$11.5 million total bullion net income in FY2025, held down by an unrealized loss on the Mint's silver hedging. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
0.7% net margin on bullion in FY2025, down from 1.7% in FY2024 and 2.1% in FY2023. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
Bullion demand across recent years
26,969 thousand ounces of bullion sold in FY2024 — nearly double the FY2025 volume. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
22,009 thousand ounces of bullion sold in FY2023. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
$40.9 million bullion net income in FY2024. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
$69.2 million bullion net income in FY2023, six times the FY2025 figure. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
988,000 ounces of American Eagle gold sold in FY2023, more than four times the FY2025 volume. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
Numismatic products
2.9 million units of numismatic products sold in FY2025. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
$490.1 million numismatic revenue in FY2025. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
$27.3 million numismatic net income in FY2025, before protection expenses. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
5.6% net margin on numismatic products in FY2025 — eight times the bullion margin. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
Derived: Comparison of the published numismatic (5.6%) and bullion (0.7%) net margins.
What Are Coins Made Of, and What Is the Metal Worth?
Coin production costs track commodity markets, and the Mint publishes the average spot prices it faced each fiscal year. Those same prices drive the retail precious metals trade that coin shops operate in.
The metals the Mint buys
$9,453.50 per tonne the average copper price the Mint faced in FY2025. Copper is the penny's plating and the bulk of the nickel, dime and quarter. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
$2,839.69 per tonne the average zinc price in FY2025. Zinc is 97.5% of a modern penny's mass. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
$15,441.57 per tonne the average nickel price in FY2025. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
Gold and silver
$3,066.43 per ounce the average daily spot gold price across FY2025. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
$34.10 per ounce the average daily spot silver price across FY2025. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
$1,221.75 per ounce the average daily spot gold price in FY2016 — a quarter of the FY2025 average. (U.S. Mint, FY2016 Annual Report, 2016)
151% higher the FY2025 average gold price against FY2016's $1,221.75. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
Derived: Computed from the two published annual averages: (3,066.43 − 1,221.75) ÷ 1,221.75.
$1,818.65 per ounce the FY2021 average gold price. (U.S. Mint, FY2021 Annual Report, 2021)
$1,881.68 per ounce the FY2023 average gold price. (U.S. Mint, FY2023 Annual Report, 2023)
$16.53 per ounce the FY2016 average silver price. (U.S. Mint, FY2016 Annual Report, 2016)
$25.41 per ounce the FY2021 average silver price. (U.S. Mint, FY2021 Annual Report, 2021)
$53.91 to $71.99 the move in the silver price during December 2025 alone, as reported in the Mint's FY2025 annual report. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
$103.19 per ounce the silver price in January 2026 — roughly triple the FY2025 average, and a move large enough that the Mint cited it in adjusting its silver product pricing. (U.S. Mint, FY2025 Annual Report, 2025)
The retail precious metals market
$10.98 billion revenue reported by A-Mark Precious Metals for the fiscal year ended 30 June 2025, up 13% year on year. A-Mark is a publicly traded bullion dealer, so its filings are among the few audited figures for the retail trade. (A-Mark Precious Metals, FY2025 results, 2025)
$9.70 billion A-Mark's revenue in the prior fiscal year, ended 30 June 2024. (A-Mark Precious Metals, FY2025 results, 2025)
1,642,000 ounces of gold sold by A-Mark in FY2025, down 11% year on year even as revenue rose 13% — a direct measure of price doing the work rather than volume. (A-Mark Precious Metals, FY2025 results, 2025)
Derived: Comparison of A-Mark's published revenue growth against its published gold ounce volumes.
1,839,000 ounces of gold sold by A-Mark in the prior fiscal year. (A-Mark Precious Metals, FY2025 results, 2025)
Frequently asked questions
- How much does it cost to make a penny?
- In FY2025, the final year of production, a penny cost 3.02 cents to produce and distribute, according to the U.S. Mint's FY2025 annual report. The more widely quoted figure of 3.69 cents is the FY2024 number, which is what both the Mint and the Treasury cited when penny production ended in November 2025.
- How much does it cost to make a nickel?
- A nickel cost 13.31 cents to produce and distribute in FY2025 — about two and a half times its five-cent face value. The nickel has cost more than face value in every year from FY2013 to FY2025, and FY2025 was the 20th consecutive fiscal year in which both the penny and the nickel ran above face.
- How many pennies are in circulation?
- The figure quoted almost everywhere is 114 billion, which the Treasury used in December 2025. That number appears verbatim in Federal Reserve Bank of New York Circular No. 11182, published on 1 September 1999. Its accompanying per-capita figure of 426 pennies per person only reconciles with a population of roughly 268 million, so the estimate reflects the United States of the 1990s rather than a current measurement.
- Why did the US stop making pennies?
- The Treasury cited rising production cost and projected an immediate saving of $56 million a year in reduced material costs. That saving figure covers materials only; the penny's full FY2025 loss including overhead and distribution was $95.6 million. The final circulating penny was struck on 12 November 2025, and the coin remains legal tender.
- How much does it cost to make a dime or a quarter?
- In FY2025 a dime cost 6.77 cents and a quarter cost 14.53 cents to produce and distribute. Both remain well below their face values, which is why they generate the seigniorage that offsets losses on the penny and nickel.
- Does the penny actually lose money for the government?
- Yes. The Mint reported negative seigniorage on the penny in every year from FY2013 to FY2025, totalling $925.0 million across the 13 years. In FY2025 alone the penny lost $95.6 million, or $1.98 for every dollar of pennies issued.
Methodology and sources
Every statistic on this page was read out of the document it cites. Nothing is taken from another statistics page, a news summary or a market-research aggregator. Where a number could not be traced to the body that produced it, it was left off.
The FY2013–FY2025 series come from U.S. Mint annual reports. Each annual report restates the two fiscal years before it, which makes the overlaps a free audit: all seven overlapping years matched exactly across reports, so the series is internally consistent rather than stitched together from single sources.
Fiscal years are not calendar years. The federal fiscal year ends on 30 September, so FY2025 closed before the final penny was struck in November 2025. Most of the confusion in reporting on coin costs traces back to this one distinction.
21 of the 119 figures are arithmetic performed on two or more published numbers — percentage changes, multi-year sums and per-capita divisions. Each is marked Derived with the calculation stated, so it can be checked against the source.
Corrections are welcome. If a figure here disagrees with a primary document, tell us and it will be fixed.
Related
The metal content behind these numbers drives what circulated coins are actually worth today. Check live melt values with the silver coin melt value calculator or the gold coin melt value calculator, or find a verified coin dealer to sell to.