The U.S. Mint is Moving Forward with Plans to Stop Penny Production
Rising costs and pending bills may seal the penny’s fate.
Earlier this year, President Donald Trump ordered the stop of the production of the 1-cent piece, commonly called the penny. The decision was primarily driven by the rising cost of producing the coin, which reached approximately 3.69 cents per penny in 2024.
The final order for penny blanks—the metal discs used to mint coins—has been placed, and production will stop once they run out.
While the penny has been a staple of U.S. currency since 1793, its usage in modern transactions has diminished. Most are discarded or stored away.
Despite the executive action, Congress has the authority to make this change permanent. Two bipartisan bills, the Make Sense Not Cents Act and the Common Cents Act, have been introduced this year to legally end penny production. Many attempts have been made over the years to remove the penny from circulation, but none have been successful yet.
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