America’s last penny was minted at the United States Mint in Philadelphia, ending a coin production that began in 1793 and ended on November 12. We’re already starting to miss them.
USA TODAY reports that some stores are starting to run out of pennies, forcing customers to round cash transactions to the nearest 5 cents if they don’t have the exact change.
In February, President Donald Trump ordered the Treasury Department to stop minting pennies as a budget-cutting measure. But the resulting shift to nickels, which are more expensive to produce than pennies, could result in another loss to the federal budget.
“For too long, the United States has been minting pennies that literally cost more than 2 cents. This is such a waste!” Trump wrote on his social media service Truth Social. “I have instructed the Secretary of the Treasury to stop issuing new pennies.”
The familiar Abraham Lincoln penny cost about 3.7 cents to produce in fiscal year 2024, according to the U.S. Mint’s annual report. Nickel costs approximately 13.8 cents to produce.
How much does it cost to make pennies and nickels?
If you can’t see the graphic, click here to view it.
The penny was one of the first coins introduced by the United States Mint, a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, more than 230 years ago.
The cost of producing both coins has increased over the past 20 years. Some of this can be attributed to higher raw material prices for copper, nickel and zinc.
Rising metal prices lead to higher production costs. If production costs become too high, seigniorage (the difference between the coin’s face value and the cost of circulation) will cause the coin to be worth less than it cost to produce.
How many pennies do you earn each year?
Approximately 3.2 billion pennies were manufactured in 2024, down from 2023. However, the cost of manufacturing and distributing a penny has increased by 20% over the same period.
Coins remain in circulation as long as they are not damaged, but many are accidentally lost or discarded. According to the Cato Institute, inventories declined significantly in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Federal Reserve asked the Mint to increase supply.
Will the penny still be legal tender?
The Treasury Department placed its final order for penny blanks (flat metal discs used to make coins) in May, according to the Richmond Fed.
According to the Treasury Department, the pennies will “remain legal tender and retain their value indefinitely,” but will no longer be minted, USA TODAY reported. There is currently an estimated 300 billion pennies in circulation, “far more than is necessary for commerce,” the Treasury said in a statement.
Some politicians and economists advocated the abolition of the penny. According to ABC News, President Barack Obama said in a 2013 interview that Penny was a “good metaphor” for the problems facing lawmakers.
According to Reuters, countries including Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Israel, Brazil, Norway, Finland and New Zealand have stopped or eliminated production of low-denomination coins. Canada abolished the penny in 2012, and financial transactions were rounded up or down to the nearest 5 cents.
Contributed by Mike Snider, Phaedra Trethan, Mina Arshad, Kinsey Crowley, Fernando Cervantes Jr.
SOURCE USA TODAY NETWORK REPORTS AND INVESTIGATIONS. Reuters; U.S. Mint; Treasury; CoinNews.net
