2008 US Coins: Values & Mintages

US coinage in 2008

The 50 State Quarters program ended with Hawaii. The Lincoln Memorial cent was struck for the last time.

Last year of the Lincoln Memorial Cent and the 50 State Quarter.

How many coins were made in 2008

Counting the circulation issues on this page, US mints struck 9,969,860,000 coins dated 2008 across 28 issues. That is 31% fewer than in 2007 (14,354,210,000). In 2009 the figure fell to 3,649,800,000.

It was the smallest year since 1973.

By mint: Denver 5,274,800,000 (53%, down from 7,176,730,000) and Philadelphia 4,695,060,000 (47%, down from 7,177,480,000).

2008 coins by denomination

Cents: 5,419,200,000 struck in 2 circulation issues of the Lincoln Memorial Cent, down 27% on 2007. The scarcest is the 2008 (2,569,600,000) and the most plentiful the 2008-D (2,849,600,000).

Nickels: 625,440,000 struck in 2 circulation issues of the Return to Monticello Nickel, down 48% on 2007. The scarcest is the 2008-P (279,840,000) and the most plentiful the 2008-D (345,600,000).

Dimes: 1,015,500,000 struck in 2 circulation issues of the Roosevelt Dime, down 51% on 2007. The scarcest is the 2008-P (391,000,000) and the most plentiful the 2008-D (624,500,000).

Quarters: 2,438,200,000 struck in 10 circulation issues of the 50 State Quarter, down 10% on 2007. The scarcest is the 2008-D Oklahoma Quarter (194,600,000) and the most plentiful the 2008-D Arizona Quarter (265,000,000).

Half Dollars: 3,400,000 struck in 2 circulation issues of the Kennedy Half Dollar, down 29% on 2007. The scarcest is the 2008-P (1,700,000) and the most plentiful the 2008-D (1,700,000).

Dollar Coins: 468,120,000 struck in 10 circulation issues of the Presidential Dollar and Sacagawea Dollar, down 51% on 2007. The scarcest is the 2008-P (1,820,000) and the most plentiful the 2008-P James Monroe (64,260,000).

Every 2008 circulation issue at a glance

• 2008-P Kennedy Half Dollar: 1,700,000 struck, the lowest mintage of all 116 Kennedy Half Dollar issues, down from 2,400,000 in 2007.
• 2008-D Kennedy Half Dollar: 1,700,000 struck, 2nd lowest of 116 in the series, down from 2,400,000 in 2007.
• 2008-P Sacagawea Dollar: 1,820,000 struck, 11th lowest of 46 in the series, down from 3,640,000 in 2007.
• 2008-D Sacagawea Dollar: 1,820,000 struck, 12th lowest of 46 in the series, down from 3,920,000 in 2007.
• 2008-D Martin Van Buren Presidential Dollar: 50,960,000 struck, more than 80% of the series' 80 issues.
• 2008-P Martin Van Buren Presidential Dollar: 51,520,000 struck, more than 81% of the series' 80 issues.
• 2008-P John Quincy Adams Presidential Dollar: 57,540,000 struck, more than 84% of the series' 80 issues.
• 2008-D John Quincy Adams Presidential Dollar: 57,720,000 struck, more than 85% of the series' 80 issues.
• 2008-D James Monroe Presidential Dollar: 60,230,000 struck, more than 86% of the series' 80 issues.
• 2008-D Andrew Jackson Presidential Dollar: 61,070,000 struck, more than 87% of the series' 80 issues.
• 2008-P Andrew Jackson Presidential Dollar: 61,180,000 struck, more than 89% of the series' 80 issues.
• 2008-P James Monroe Presidential Dollar: 64,260,000 struck, more than 90% of the series' 80 issues.

The 16 more plentiful issues are listed in the tables below.

Lincoln Memorial Cent: Rising metal costs and the last Memorial cents

Cent production fell from the 2000 peak, settling between about 2.5 and 4.3 billion a year at each mint from 2002. By 2006 rising zinc and copper prices meant the cent cost more than face value to make. In December 2006 the Mint issued rules restricting the melting and export of cents and nickels, since older bronze cents contained more than a cent of metal.

Beginning in 2005, the Mint's uncirculated sets included cents with a satin finish, giving these years a distinct collector version. Proof cents from San Francisco show deep mirror fields with frosted designs. The 2008 marked the last year of the Memorial reverse before the 2009 Bicentennial designs. Circulated coins from this period often show plating wear or zinc rot, while many collectors still save rolls of uncirculated cents.

See every Lincoln Memorial Cent →

Return to Monticello Nickel: Forward-facing Jefferson and the 2009 drop

In 2006 the Return to Monticello nickel brought back Felix Schlag's Monticello, re-engraved with sharper detail, paired with a new obverse by Jamie Franki showing Jefferson facing forward. The portrait is based on an 1800 painting by Rembrandt Peale. Liberty appears in Jefferson's handwriting. Satin finish coins were included in mint sets. Output in 2006 passed 1.5 billion combined.

Rising metal prices pushed the cost of making a nickel above face value by 2006. The Mint restricted melting of nickels at the end of that year. The Great Recession then cut demand sharply. Output in 2009 fell to 39.8 million at Philadelphia and 46.8 million at Denver, the lowest since the 1950s. As a result 2009 nickels turn up in change far less often than other modern dates.

See every Return to Monticello Nickel →

Roosevelt Dime: Silver proofs and the 1996-W

Silver proof sets returned in 1992, so collectors could once more buy proof dimes struck in 90 percent silver at San Francisco alongside the clad proofs. In 1996 the Mint marked the dime's 50th anniversary by placing a West Point dime with a W mint mark in each uncirculated set. About 1.46 million were made, the lowest mintage dime of the 1990s apart from the proofs.

Circulation demand peaked in 1999, when Philadelphia alone struck more than 2.1 billion dimes. From 2005 the dimes in uncirculated sets carried a satin finish that sets them apart from business strikes, a detail worth checking when sorting coins removed from sets. Dimes of this era found in pocket change are usually lightly worn clad pieces with their outer layers intact. Proof dimes from both the clad and silver sets of these years survive in large numbers.

See every Roosevelt Dime →

Kennedy Half Dollar: Collector-only production

From 2002 the Mint stopped releasing halves into circulation and struck them only for collectors, sold in rolls, bags and sets. Mintages stayed between about 1.7 and 3.8 million per mint through 2012. In 2014 the Mint marked the 50th anniversary with a 1964-2014 dual-dated gold proof from West Point, 73,772 struck, along with silver versions from all four mints.

Silver proofs switched to .999 fine silver in 2019. Output for collectors rose again after 2020, with Philadelphia striking 30.2 million in 2023. Business strikes of these years are rarely found in change, so most surviving coins are uncirculated, often still in original Mint rolls or packaging. Silver proofs of the 2020s were made in smaller numbers than those of earlier decades.

See every Kennedy Half Dollar →

Presidential Dollar: A new dollar every few months

The program opened in 2007 with George Washington and added four presidents a year in the order they served. The date, mint mark, E PLURIBUS UNUM and IN GOD WE TRUST were all lettered on the edge, which led to the best-known modern error of the series: dollars that left the Mint with a plain edge, missing all of that lettering.

Philadelphia and Denver struck hundreds of millions of the first coins and they did reach everyday change for a while. Most people still preferred paper dollars, though, so plenty of these early coins went straight into bank vaults. Check the edge of any 2007 or 2008 coin you find.

See every Presidential Dollar →

Sacagawea Dollar: The golden dollar and the soaring eagle

The Sacagawea dollar launched in 2000 with a large publicity push, including dollars handed out through a cereal promotion and at a national retail chain. Philadelphia and Denver struck well over a billion coins that first year. People liked the gold color but kept spending paper dollars and the coins piled up in bank vaults.

From 2002 the Mint stopped shipping Sacagawea dollars for general circulation and sold them to collectors in rolls, bags and sets instead. That is why mintages drop from hundreds of millions in 2000 and tens of millions in 2001 to a few million a year after that and why later dates from these years are rarely found in change. Uncirculated coins with bright, untoned color are the ones collectors want.

See every Sacagawea Dollar →