Coins of 1955: Why Were the Mintages So Low?

Numismatics is intricately connected to politics, finance, and economics. Knowledge of the production and history of coins is not enough to fully understand the complex forces that cause rarity and low mintages. To gain a deeper appreciation of numismatics, one must also consider impactful non-numismatic events.

In other words, numismatic history is much more than numismatics.

Below are the mintages of U.S. coins (nickels through half dollars) from 1954 and 1955.

1954 Jefferson Nickels 194,251,110

1955 Jefferson Nickels 83,352,100

1954 Roosevelt Dimes 243,267,203

1955 Roosevelt Dimes 44,919,181

1954 Washington Quarters 108,552,424

1955 Washington Quarters 21,362,581

1954 Franklin Half Dollars 43,627,182

1955 Franklin Half Dollars 2,498,181

You will notice that the mintages of 1955 are dramatically lower than those of 1954. But did you ever wonder why those mintages were so low? Read on to discover why.

Early 1953 saw a reduction in general economic expansion. Consumer spending mostly kept up with rising income in early 1953; however, spending on commodities, in contrast to spending on services, began to decline. That resulted in inventories, mostly those held by retailers, increasing. At the same time, the number of new military contracts, which use industrial inventories on a grander scale than consumer goods, fell dramatically. Considering these changes, many firms decided to bring their inventory into balance with sales and incoming orders. However, that led to scattered declines in production after July of 1953. The fall of that year saw production fall short of consumption, which led to an inventory recession.

This economic situation was aggravated by the conclusion of the Korean War on July 27, 1953. That spelled the end of the need for numerous military goods. During 1954, a larger contraction of military and related expenditures than had been expected was experienced, which led to even more economic readjustments. A decline in defense spending was another reason businesses reduced their inventories. These events helped throw the U.S. economy into a recession.

The combined decline of inventory and defense spending during nine months was at an annual rate of $17 billion. This expenditure reduction was reflected in production, employment, income flow, business loans, imports, and other segments of the American economy. The overall decline in economic activity was relatively small, but its impact was uneven. Some industries and localities suffered greatly.

Around 1.25 million people lost their jobs in manufacturing at this time. Just about 1 million of them had labored in steel mills, ordnance factories, shipbuilding yards, automotive plants, locomotive works, and other durable goods factories. Overtime work was hard to come by, and the average work week became shorter. Wages continued to rise but were negated by reduced employment opportunities and fewer working hours. Thus, the annual rate of salaried income in manufacturing fell by $5.5 billion (11 percent).

Treasury Department officials announced in January 1955 that they were shuttering the San Francisco Mint. They did this because more modern facilities and richness of silver and copper in and near Colorado would enable the government to strike coinage at “half the cost” at the Denver Mint.

An official for the Treasury said that coins can be produced in Denver and delivered to the Federal Reserve banks for the exact cost as minting them in San Francisco. “We have a modern mint in Denver,” he said. “All its production is mechanical. Its production costs are quite low.”

The San Francisco Mint had been delivering coins to just four of the 36 Federal Reserve banks, demonstrating that demand for “S”-mint coins had fallen. Also, the mints had shifted their delivery methods. The old way was to ship via U.S. Post Office parcel post. The new method was by convoys of armored cars, which is much less expensive than the U.S. postal service. “Meanwhile,” explained the Treasury official, “the demand for coins has recently fallen way off. Since in our production we are adding to a terrific pool, once demand starts to decline, it goes off badly in a hurry.” The lack of demand for coins can be blamed on the recession of 1953-1954.

In 1945, at the end of World War II, the U.S. Mint had 4,000 employees and was unable to keep up with demand. However, in early 1955, only 800 people were employed at the three U.S. mints. Of those, 64 of them lost their jobs at the San Francisco Mint in 1955. Production at the Philadelphia Mint had previously been cut back.

The 1955-S Lincoln cent had a considerable collector market due to the fact that the San Francisco Mint would close its doors that year. That was a meaningful event for collectors of Lincoln cents. During the 1950s, it was important for collectors that year after year, the mintages of cents from San Francisco were lower than those of both Philadelphia and Denver. There was a strong emotional bond among collectors to the Lincoln cents from San Francisco. The key dates of the series were mostly “S”-mint issues that included the 1909-S VDB, 1909-S, and 1931-S. And now there would be no more new “S”-mint cents to collect. Therefore, everyone had to get their hands on the 1955-S!

The 1955-S mintage of 44,610,000 was not low by any means, but it was still the lowest “S”-mint cent produced since 1939. People scrambled to get rolls of the 1955-S cent, resulting in widespread hoarding. Every collector wanted at least one roll, and small dealers wanted ten rolls. To numismatists of the 21st century, it may seem astonishing that collectors hoarded a coin with such a high mintage. But it was indeed a time of severe hoarding. The craze started with the 1950-D nickel and its subsequent price rise. Thus, collectors believed the 1955-S cent would be the next 1950-D nickel. It wasn’t. Hoarding rolls made it challenging to find circulated examples of the 1955-S cent. For example, during the 1960s, when putting together a collection of Lincoln cents in my Library of Coins books, I found a circulated 1909-S in change – but had to purchase an uncirculated 1955-S.

The 1955 Jefferson nickel is quite tricky to find in circulation, even though it is not a rarity. That is because it was hoarded, as was the case with the “S”-mint Lincoln cents of that year. It has a mintage of 7,888,000, and the only dates with lower mintages are 1938-D (5,376,000), 1938-S (4,105,000), 1939-D (3,514,000), 1939-S (6,630,000), 1951-S (7,776,000) and 1950-D (2,630,030).

Specialist Bernard Nagengast wrote of the 1955 Jefferson nickel, “Most of this issue is of ‘garbage’ quality. Expect dark colored, poorly struck, nicked, and marked coins. Very rare as a full strike, brilliant white coin.”

According to David Bowers, the U.S. Mint had several “S” mintmark nickel dies on hand in 1955. However, with the San Francisco Mint’s imminent closing, there was no need for them. Instead of wasting the dies, however, at least ten dies were overpunched with “D” mintmarks, resulting in the 1955-D/S variety. Thousands exist today with varying definitions. Collectors are advised to seek out one with bold under-S, such as FS-05-1955-D-501.

It was extraordinary that in 1955, the Philadelphia Mint, famous for striking significantly more coins than the branch mints, struck only 12,450,181 Roosevelt dimes. That turned out to be the lowest mintage ever for a regular-issue Roosevelt dime. However, although the mintages of the three 1955 Roosevelt dimes are the smallest in the series, these coins are not rare. This is due to the hoarding of rolls, which resulted in thousands of examples surviving in Brilliant Uncirculated condition. This was particularly true of the 1955-S dime, hoarded because the San Francisco Mint would close during 1955. The hoarding of the uncirculated 1955 dimes was not as complete as it was for the 1950-D nickel, but all three dimes were circulation rarities.

The 1955-D is the lowest-mintage Washington quarter from 1941 to 1964. Its mintage of 3,182,400 created quite a stir when it was released. At the time, collectors and dealers expected the low mintage to drive future rarity and demand. However, so many rolls were hoarded that thousands of Brilliant Uncirculated examples are available today. The only Washington quarters with lower mintages than the 1955-D are 1932-D (436,000), 1932-S (408,000), 1937-S (1,652,000), 1938-S (2,832,000), 1939-S (2,628,000) and 1940-D (2,797,600).

The Franklin half dollar was only produced at the Philadelphia Mint. Not a single Franklin half dollar was struck at the Denver or San Francisco mints in 1955. Therefore, the 2,498,181 coins produced at the Philadelphia Mint were the only ones of that year and the lowest-mintage Franklin half-dollar. That made it the critical date of the series. These coins were hoarded by the roll by collectors and dealers alike, making circulated examples more difficult to find than Brilliant Uncirculated ones. A popular variety is the 1955 “Bugs Bunny.” It was created by a die clash between an obverse die, and a reverse die. The impact of the eagle’s wings on the other die caused marks near Franklin’s mouth, which, according to some, resembles vampire's teeth.

No article about the coins of 1955 would be complete without discussing one of the most dramatic U.S. coins ever produced. When kids became coin collectors in the 1960s, one of the first coins they ever heard of was the 1955 Doubled Die. I vividly remember seeing a spectacular Brilliant Uncirculated Red specimen at the coin counter at Two Guys department store in Hackensack, N.J., in 1964. It was $300 then, but it might as well have been a million dollars for a 10-year-old.

The 1955 Doubled Die is the most famous mint error/variety coin in American numismatics. The doubling on it is striking (no pun intended) and can be seen quite easily with the naked eye. The doubling on the date, “LIBERTY,” and the motto “IN GOD WE TRUST” are the most prominent. These doubled die coins were produced when the mint struck a working hub, and a working die together, and they were both slightly rotated differently from one another. Thus, the working die received a “doubled die” impression that resulted in thousands of 1955 Doubled Die cents being produced.

Those doubled die coins were mixed with millions of regular business strike coins and began to show up in circulation. Smokers had a better chance of finding a 1955 Doubled Die because there were two cents under the cellophane of cigarette packs in vending machines. A pack cost 23 cents in 1955, but vending machines would not take less than a quarter. The two coins in the pack were change for the quarter. Many of those doubled die coins appeared in cigarette packages.

Putting together a set of 1955 coins would be an interesting and fun undertaking. Due to the closing of the San Francisco Mint and the appearance of the 1955 Doubled Die Lincoln cent, 1955 was a watershed year in numismatics. Since many of the coins from that year have been hoarded, you will not have trouble finding lustrous gem specimens of them.

If you like toned coins, then go to coin shows and ask dealers if they have any mint sets from 1955. They are not as common as they once were, but you may get lucky and discover one. The 1955 Ben Franklin “Bugs Bunny” half dollar is not rare and can be found certified by either PCGS or NGC. You can search out a 1955-D/S nickel at coin shows. If you are not sure of what it should look like, then study the Cherrypickers’ Guide by Bill Fivaz and J.T. Stanton.

The only difficult piece to include in your set of 1955 coins may be the Doubled Die Lincoln cent. We suggest that you do not purchase a raw, uncertified example of it. It will be on the expensive side, but lower grades or a “Details”-graded coin would be more affordable. There are many counterfeit versions in the marketplace, so be careful. We suggest that you get one from a reputable dealer in either a PCGS or NGC holder. Happy hunting! 

Sources:

Economic Report of the President. Transmitted to the Congress January 20, 1955. United States Government Printing Office. Washington, D.C. 1955.

“San Francisco Mint to Close; Costs Too High.” Chicago Tribune. January 7, 1955.

Paul M. Green. “1955-S cent hoarded as the last.” Numismatic News. December 27, 2010.

Jaime Hernandez. “The 1955 Doubled Die Lincoln Cent – and its Price Performance since 1970.” PCGS.com. October 27, 2009. 

Q. David Bowers. A Guide Book of Buffalo and Jefferson Nickels. Whitman Publishing LLC. Atlanta, GA. 2007.

Fivaz, Bill, and J.T. Stanton. Rare Die Varieties of United States Coins. Atlanta: Whitman Publishing, LLC, 2007.

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