Notes on Mintage Quantities

Abstract

These tables include at least the same varieties and quantities given in the Yeoman books (plus many from the Breen book), extended to at least 1999, plus some "known" quantities for proofs and rarities, a few estimated quantities for Indian Head and Lincoln cent varieties, and some retail prices from ads for common series.

Purpose

The main goal of these tables is to provide concise, machine-readable files of quantities minted. They might someday be used for statistical research on the relationship between price, quantity available, and quantity minted for the various series. Eventually I hope to provide (statistical) estimates of "quantities available" for all varieties, but this could take years to assemble.

These tables can be used as a quick online substitute for the (red) "Guide Book" or (blue) "Handbook of U.S. Coins" by R.S. Yeoman. Since they have current mintage figures (to 1999), it can be also used to update any current coin folders you may be using.

The prices are not intended to be current; they are just included as a supplement to the quantities to indicate relative rarity (they are not perfect for this, since they also reflect demand). The prices are not taken from any copyrighted sources; they are public domain.

Format

The only html codes are contained in the first and last lines of each file. The second line of each file is a header which describes the (fixed column) fields. All other lines contain valid numeric data (for numeric fields, or characters for other fields). No tabs are used. An example of the header line, a data line, and the columns used for each field is given below.

YearM Type/Variety   Mintage   Proof   G4 (additional description)
1892S Barber          .123e6          50. many known
1-4 56 7-21            22-28   31-36 37-41  42-80

Notes on Individual Fields

M Mint mark. 2 characters, to allow for CC. Sometimes there is a - in the second position, just to emphasis a new type/variety.
Type/Variety Description of the type. Often includes abbreviations like Sm, Lg, etc. For full descriptions of the varieties, see a Yeoman book or more specialized references. I'd be willing to add more varieties if quantity estimates for the varieties are available.
Mintage Usually this is the total of business strike and proof quantity minted, from the official mint records. In a few cases, it is an unofficial estimate. The ideal number here is the "quantity released", so if some were known to have been melted at the mint, those are subtracted from the total (for example, 1862S $3). The notation e6 means multiply the number by 10 to the 6th power (i.e. million). So .123e6 equals 123000. 3 or 4 significant digits are usually included. Mintage is never blank, and has 8 special coded values:
- 0 This means it is a proof-only variety. (In this case, the Mintage is not the total of business strike and proof).
- .1 This means the quantity is for a variety not listed in official mint records, and is part of the total quantity listed in the previous line. I would prefer to convert these to unofficial estimates, but I don't have the specialized references at present to do this. In the meantime, if the price is available, that should indicate the relative quantity available.
- .2 This means the quantity is unknown, and is not part of the total quantity of the previous line.
- When the following numbers appear, they are usually estimates based on rarity phrases in the Breen book (p.707):
  - 8 = 4-12 known, "extremely rare", R-7
  - 21 = 13-30 known, "very rare", R-6
  - 53 = 31-75 known, "rare", R-5
  - 138 = 76-200 known, "very scarce", R-4
  - 350 = 201-500 known, "scarce", R-3
For Commemoratives, the number here is the "quantity released." For Proof Sets, the number here is the issue price. For Bullion, the Mintage number does not include the Proof total (I think).
Proof Quantity minted in proof. Occasionally this is an estimate or a lower bound. Sometimes it is a "known surviving" number (P:K notation to right). If blank, the number is zero.
G4 Retail price. Most of these are from 1989 coin magazine ads. G4 means Good (4) condition. Prices for a few types are for higher condition (VG8, MS60, etc.). For proof-only issues, the price is for Proof (65?). So far (8/96), I've only entered price data for the more commonly traded series. Notable omissions are commemoratives and all gold coins. If you're interested in current prices for all series and most grades, check out the Other price lists (specialty dealers and price guides).
(additional description) The final field is occasionally used for additional comments, such as the quantity originally minted (if not all were released), notes on the prices, and references for estimated quantities.

Sources

These lists are largely based on the lists from Michael Caver's E Pluribus Unum web site. His (formerly online) lists were broken into more separate files, and contained longer descriptions (including info on the designer, weight, composition, etc. of each type). As mentioned under Purpose above, my lists are specialized to use a small number of files and contain machine-readable fields (including non-copyrighted price data). I also updated the quantities minted after 1990, added commemoratives, added some ommitted dates/mintmarks, and fixed some errors in mintage quantities. As for material beyond what is in the Yeoman books, there are several estimated quantities for Lincoln cent varieties, and some prices from 1996 auctions.

Neither site is a substitute for the Yeoman books upon which they are both roughly modelled. These books contain photos, grading information, full current price matrices, etc.

Most of the "Proof: Known" quantities are from the Breen book. Many of the "known" quantities for "classic rarities" are given in the "Striking Impressions" book, although Breen has much more detail.

Quantities 1991-93 are from the Yeoman book.
Quantities 1994-95 are from Brad Reed of Coin World Magazine. He generously shared these numbers, which are based on reports from the Mint Public Affairs office, and compiled on a calendar year basis. This contrasts with the Mint Directors Report, which is on a fiscal year basis.
1996 quantities, and 1993-96 bullion and proof numbers are from Jay!!! (Jason Weiland)
1997 and 1998 quantities were taken from press releases on the U.S. Mint web page
1999 state quarter mintages are from posts to rec.collecting.coins, cited from Numismatic News. 2000-2001 mintages from Goldsheet - 50 State Quarters.

References

Breen, Walter. Walter Breen's Complete Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins, Doubleday, New York, 1988. ISBN: 0-385-14207-2
Herbert, Alan. Official Price Guide to Minting Varieties and Errors, New York, 1991.
Van Ryzin, Robert. Striking Impressions, Krause, Iola Wisconsin, 1992. ISNB: 0-87341-176-5
Spadone, Frank G. Major Variety and Oddity Guide to United States Coins, Anco, Florence Alabama, 1981. ISBN: 0-87637-162-4
The Spadone book is an early treatment of varieties/errors; it is basically a long list of anything that looks out of the ordinary. It does not make the distinction between "hub doubling" and "abrasion doubling", for example (they are rare and common, respectively, even though they look similar to the casual eye). In these www pages, I use these 2 terms, instead of the highly confusing and nondescriptive "doubled die" and "double die" terms. The Herbert book is a more modern and detailed treatment of varieties. The Spadone book also lists a few coins which have since been found to have been counterfeit, such as the "2-legged" Buffalo nickels (see the Breen book).
Yeoman, R.S. A Guide Book of United States Coins, Western Publishing, Racine Wisconsin, 1996. ISBN: 0-307-19901-0 (average retail prices - "Red book")
Yeoman, R.S. Handbook of United States Coins, Western Publishing, Racine Wisconsin, 1996. (average dealer buy prices - "Blue book")
Mike Locke's Coin Book Reviews Check out these reviews, if you are interesting in buying some specialized coin books.

Wanted to improve this web page

Estimated quantities for any varieties

Feedback

If you have any questions, comments, or corrections, please send me some email: clint@leland.stanford.edu (Clint Cummins)