Mintage refers to the total number of coins struck for circulation by a given mint in a specific year. Mintage figures are reported by mints (the U.S. Mint, Royal Mint, Royal Canadian Mint) and serve as the foundational rarity metric for circulation coins. Low mintages typically — but not always — correlate with collector value. Surviving population (factoring in melts, losses, and circulation wear) often diverges substantially from original mintage.

Mintage is the total number of coins struck of a given date, denomination, mint mark and variety. For collectors of modern coins, mintage is published by the issuing mint and is one of the primary inputs to a coin’s market value: low-mintage modern issues frequently appreciate above their bullion value purely on rarity. For vintage and ancient coins, mintage figures are estimated from surviving population data and historical mint records, often with substantial uncertainty.

Mintage alone does not determine value. A coin with a mintage of one million can be worth more than a coin with a mintage of one hundred thousand if the lower-mintage piece was widely used and survives mostly in circulated condition while the higher-mintage piece was hoarded uncirculated. The interaction between mintage, survival rate, and grade distribution is what produces the modern coin market’s pricing structure. See our key date entry for the related concept of date-driven scarcity within a series.