A quarter costs about 15 cents to produce for the U.S. Mint, based on the latest public reporting. In other words, the production and distribution cost per quarter exceeds its 25-cent face value by a noticeable margin, though the exact figure can vary by year and methodology.

Key points

• Current evidence shows the unit production cost for a U.S. quarter ranges around 14–15 cents, driven by metal content and minting/distribution expenses.

• Over time, costs for coins have risen due to metal prices, labor, and machinery maintenance, with recent reports highlighting that pennies cost about 3–4 cents to produce while larger coins cost proportionally more.

• The U.S. Mint and related analyses periodically update these figures, and debates about coin composition and discontinuation (e.g., penny) have fed into newer cost assessments.

If you’d like, I can pull the most recent official figures from the U.S. Mint or Federal Reserve sources and present a tight, year-by-year comparison.