The days of the US penny appear to be numbered. The US Mint has made its final order of penny blanks and will stop producing the coin once supplies run out, a Treasury Department official confirmed on Thursday.
The move is part of a cost-cutting plan, as the price of making pennies has risen sharply, by over 20% in 2024 alone. Producing a single penny now costs nearly 4 cents. According to the Treasury, ending penny production will save around $56 million a year in material costs.
The decision follows President Donald Trump’s public call in February to stop minting the 1-cent coin. “For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents. This is so wasteful!” he wrote on his Truth Social platform. “I have instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies.”
Despite 114 billion pennies still in circulation, worth about $1.14 billion, officials say they are rarely used in everyday transactions. Last year alone, 3.2 billion pennies were made, making it the most produced coin in the US. Still, many argue the coin has outlived its usefulness.
The penny has been part of US currency since 1792, one of the first coins struck by the US Mint. But over 230 years later, it’s become a financial burden. While penny production is costly, the nickel is even more expensive, costing nearly 14 cents per coin to produce.
Under US law, the Treasury Secretary has the authority to decide how many coins should be minted to meet national needs. However, to eliminate the penny permanently, Congress would need to pass a law, something it has tried and failed to do in the past.
This year, two bipartisan efforts have emerged to change that. Senators Mike Lee and Jeff Merkley introduced the Make Sense Not Cents Act, while the Common Cents Act was put forward by Representatives Lisa McClain and Robert Garcia, along with Senators Cynthia Lummis and Kirsten Gillibrand.
Critics of the penny point to its high cost and limited function in today’s economy. But supporters say it still has value, particularly in charity drives, and argue that eliminating it could lead to increased reliance on the nickel, which is even more costly to produce.
Jay Zagorsky, a professor at Boston University specialising in markets, public policy, and law, supports ending the penny but warns of potential side effects. “If we suddenly have to produce a lot of nickels and we lose more money on producing every nickel, eliminating the penny doesn't make any sense,” he said.
The move is part of a cost-cutting plan, as the price of making pennies has risen sharply, by over 20% in 2024 alone. Producing a single penny now costs nearly 4 cents. According to the Treasury, ending penny production will save around $56 million a year in material costs.
The decision follows President Donald Trump’s public call in February to stop minting the 1-cent coin. “For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents. This is so wasteful!” he wrote on his Truth Social platform. “I have instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies.”
Despite 114 billion pennies still in circulation, worth about $1.14 billion, officials say they are rarely used in everyday transactions. Last year alone, 3.2 billion pennies were made, making it the most produced coin in the US. Still, many argue the coin has outlived its usefulness.
The penny has been part of US currency since 1792, one of the first coins struck by the US Mint. But over 230 years later, it’s become a financial burden. While penny production is costly, the nickel is even more expensive, costing nearly 14 cents per coin to produce.
Under US law, the Treasury Secretary has the authority to decide how many coins should be minted to meet national needs. However, to eliminate the penny permanently, Congress would need to pass a law, something it has tried and failed to do in the past.
This year, two bipartisan efforts have emerged to change that. Senators Mike Lee and Jeff Merkley introduced the Make Sense Not Cents Act, while the Common Cents Act was put forward by Representatives Lisa McClain and Robert Garcia, along with Senators Cynthia Lummis and Kirsten Gillibrand.
Critics of the penny point to its high cost and limited function in today’s economy. But supporters say it still has value, particularly in charity drives, and argue that eliminating it could lead to increased reliance on the nickel, which is even more costly to produce.
Jay Zagorsky, a professor at Boston University specialising in markets, public policy, and law, supports ending the penny but warns of potential side effects. “If we suddenly have to produce a lot of nickels and we lose more money on producing every nickel, eliminating the penny doesn't make any sense,” he said.
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