Lately there has been talk in financial circles of central bank digital currencies, crypto currencies and a cashless society. However, the US Mint issued over 1 billion coins in February of 2023, which is proof that traditional coinage is here to stay for the foreseeable future. Below are some reasons why this is the case.

The Issued Coins

Data from the U.S. Mint shows that the majority of the coins were spread across dimes, quarters, nickels and cents. There were fewer pennies this year than before, but the primary goal of the government is to issue enough coins to cater to public demand. These coins are typically sent to the Federal Reserve Banks which in turn are transferred to smaller financial institutions such as commercial banks.

The Lincoln cent was struck in numbers exceeding 420 million, and accounts for about 40 percent of February issues. Other popular coins include quarters, Roosevelt dimes and Jefferson nickels. There are also the Kennedy Halves and Native American Dollars. Although the $1 Native American coin has not recently received any Federal Reserve requests, they are still being produced in circulation quality for collectors. The same can be said for the Kennedy half dollars, at least until 2022 and 2021.

How the Coins are distributed

Typically around January, the United States Mint will issue denominations for the amounts which are expected for the remainder of the year. The same has been true for 2023, with the exception of the Kennedy halves. The Mint hasn’t yet revealed whether or not they will issue the popular Kennedy half dollars for 2023. If they are distributed, the two Mint branches which would be most likely to issue them would the ones in Denver and Philadelphia.

When shipped, the coins will arrive in boxes, rolls and bags. In fact, the U.S. Mint has revealed that in May they are planning to offer special collector bags and rolls for various coins. When it comes to production numbers, the Mint at Denver surpassed Philadelphia, issuing around 540 million coins versus only 514 million coins for its Philly counterpart. If current production targets continue, the total annual 2023 Mintage should reach 13 billion coins by the end of December, which is about the same as last year.

The Importance of Minting Coins

Despite claims by some that the U.S. and other nations are about to transition into a cashless, fully digital society, the figures above show that this is highly unlikely. If this were actually true, we should see a sharp decrease in the amount of coinage that is being issued year after year, but the expected issues for this year are expected to be about the same as last year, and this doesn’t include the paper currencies that are in circulation.

There are a number of practical problems with going fully cashless/coinless, the first of which is the severe lack of privacy, cyber security threats and the inability to access funds during power outages or other emergencies which disrupt internet service. This combined with the collectible value inherent in coins and cash makes a fully cashless society very unlikely.