Trump administration halts one-cent coin to cut costs; pennies remain legal tender
PHILADELPHIA / WASHINGTON – The United States has minted its final penny, ending more than two centuries of continuous production of the country’s smallest and most familiar coin. Inside the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia on Wednesday, November 12, U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach pressed the last five circulating one-cent coins, closing a 232-year chapter that began shortly after the nation’s founding.
The ceremony carried out a directive issued earlier this year by President Donald Trump, who ordered the Treasury Department to suspend penny production. Federal officials have long warned that the coin costs far more than its face value to produce. Mint data show the penny cost 3.69 cents to manufacture and distribute in 2024. Ending production is expected to save the government about 56 million dollars annually.
Why the penny was finally retired
For nearly twenty years, the Mint has produced pennies at a loss. Rising costs for metal, labor and distribution kept the unit cost above one cent every year since the mid-2000s. In fiscal year 2024, the Mint produced about 3.2 billion pennies, accounting for more than half of all circulating coins that year. Yet many never made their way back into commerce. Treasury and banking data estimate that roughly 300 billion pennies exist nationwide, most sitting in jars, drawers and vehicles rather than circulating through stores and banks.
Economists, consumer groups and government analysts have argued that continuing to mint the penny no longer reflected how Americans pay. With card and mobile transactions now dominant, the one-cent coin had become both costly and underused. Under federal law, the Treasury Secretary determines how many coins are needed to meet commerce demands. Officials say that authority supported the decision to suspend penny production once national demand fell.
What consumers will see as the penny fades out
Officials emphasize that pennies remain legal tender. Consumers can still spend them, retailers may continue pricing goods to the cent and banks will accept penny deposits. The Federal Reserve will distribute existing supplies until inventories are depleted.
What will change is availability. Worn, lost or hoarded pennies will not be replaced by new ones. Over time, their numbers will naturally decline. As that happens, many businesses are expected to adopt rounding practices for cash transactions
Studies in Canada and New Zealand, both of which retired their lowest-value coins, indicate that rounding has minimal long-term impact on consumer prices because upward and downward adjustments tend to balance out.
A coin deeply tied to American memory
Authorized by the Coinage Act of 1792, the penny first appeared in 1793 as a large copper cent featuring Liberty. The modern Lincoln cent, introduced in 1909 to mark the centennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth, became the first regular U.S. coin to feature a real person. A shift to a zinc core with a copper coating in the early 1980s reduced metal costs, but not enough to prevent the penny from becoming more expensive to produce than it was worth.
The United States has not discontinued a circulating coin since 1857, when the half-cent was removed. For generations of Americans, including Filipino American families who grew up saving and collecting the coin, the penny has symbolized thrift, childhood learning and the idea that every small amount matters.
Collectors prepare for historic final pieces
The Mint confirmed that the last five circulating pennies struck on November 12 will be preserved and auctioned. Numismatic experts expect strong bidding for the final pieces given their historic significance. Although circulation striking has ended, the Mint will continue issuing limited numismatic versions of the penny for collectors and historic sets.
Part of a broader global trend
With this decision, the United States joins countries such as Canada, Australia and New Zealand, all of which phased out their lowest-denomination coins as production costs outpaced their purchasing power and cash use declined. Some economists anticipate future discussion about the nickel, which also costs more to mint than its face value, though Treasury officials have made no announcements.
A practical move with symbolic weight
Ending the penny is a cost-saving decision that reflects how Americans pay in 2025. Yet it also marks the quiet retirement of a familiar object intertwined with daily life. The penny that filled church jars, lined school desks during counting exercises and became a symbol of good luck has now reached the end of its production.
The final strike has been pressed. What remains in pockets, jars and drawers will continue to spend even as the nation moves forward without minting another one-cent coin.
