(WDNews) – The U.S. Mint is preparing to halt production of the penny after making its final order of penny blanks, a Treasury Department official confirmed Thursday.
The move follows a February announcement by President Donald Trump, who directed his administration 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!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “I have instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies.”
According to the Treasury, the cost of making pennies rose by more than 20% in 2024, with each one now costing nearly 4 cents to produce. Ending production is expected to save the government around $56 million annually in material costs.
There are an estimated 114 billion pennies currently in circulation — about $1.14 billion — though the Treasury says the coin is greatly underutilized.
The penny has been part of U.S. currency since the Mint was established in 1792. Current law gives the treasury secretary the authority to decide coin production based on national needs.
Critics of the penny point to its high production cost and limited use. Supporters say it still plays a role in charity drives and is cheaper to make than the nickel, which costs nearly 14 cents to produce.
Congress, which sets the size and composition of coins, could make the change permanent. While past efforts to eliminate the penny have failed, two bipartisan bills were introduced this year: the “Make Sense Not Cents Act” and the “Common Cents Act.”
Jay Zagorsky, professor of markets, public policy, and law at Boston University, supports the idea but warned against unintended consequences.
“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,” Zagorsky said.
He added that any legislation should include a requirement for rounding prices, which would reduce demand for both pennies and nickels.
The Wall Street Journal was the first to report the news.
