The Federal Reserve reports that 28 armored carrier locations nationwide contracted to distribute coins and paper money across the 12 Federal Reserve Bank districts have suspended orders and deposits involving Lincoln cents. Their action is pursuant to the Treasury Department’s decision earlier this year to suspend circulating cent production at the Denver and Philadelphia Mints. Cent production and distribution costs have well exceeded face value for more than a decade.
Those 12 Federal Reserve Bank Districts include 37 subdistrict banking operations.
The latest U.S. Mint annual report indicates the cost to produce and distribute each Lincoln cent into circulation is more than three times face value.
President Trump issued an edict as part of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency efforts to eliminate wasteful spending. As president, Trump does not have the authority to eliminate the denomination or suspend its production. Eliminating coinage is the responsibility of Congress and suspending production is congressionally delegated to the Treasury secretary.
Multiple bills in Congress seek complete end to the Lincoln cent.
The 28 impacted Federal Reserve contracted coin distribution locations and their procedural changes are found online.
When the Treasury Department suspended circulating cent production, the Bureau of the Mint ceased placing orders for ready-to-strike planchets from its longtime Greeneville, Tennessee, vendor, Artazn, formerly known as Jarden Zinc Products.
Bureau officials indicate cent planchets will still be secured for production of cents at the Denver and Philadelphia Mints for inclusion in annual Uncirculated Mint sets, and planchets for Proof cents for annual Proof sets will also be secured.
The Uncirculated Mint set planchets have upset (raised) rims and are composed of a single layer of pure copper over a core of 99.2% zinc and 0.8% copper. The Proof cent planchets shipped to the San Francisco Mint exhibit a double plating of pure copper.
So far in 2025, the Denver and Philadelphia Mints combined have produced 1,300,400,000 Lincoln cents — 655.2 million at Philadelphia and 645.2 million at Denver.
For all of 2024, Lincoln cent production reached 3,225,200,000 — 1,513,200,000 in Denver and 1,712,000 in Philadelphia.
Both years’ outputs are minuscule in comparison to 2000-dated cent production for circulation, which totaled 14,277,420,000 coins — 5,503,200,000 from Philadelphia and 8,774,220,000 from Denver.
The 28 contracted armored carrier locations accept for deposit by banks and other participating financial institution coins turned in by customers. The carriers also received shipments of new coins from the Mint based on orders placed by the Federal Reserve.
When the participating banks and financial institutions place orders through the carriers for coinage, the coins received to fulfill the orders may be all previously circulated coins, 100% new production, or a mixture of both.
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