Soon, we’ll no longer be picking up pennies for good luck, as the U.S. Treasury recently confirmed that the U.S. Mint will end the production of the one cent coin after two centuries in circulation.
The decision comes as a way to cost costs after the production of the penny has risen to 3.69 cents per coin. The Treasury estimates stopping the production of pennies will save an immediate $56 million annually.
For years, the argument for phasing out the coin has been discussed. Former Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, under former President Barack Obama, was also in favor of killing the penny back in 2015. However, previous attempts were halted for various, complex reasons.
President Trump made his stance clear on the matter after calling the production of the penny “wasteful” and encouraged the Treasury to end its production back in February. Bipartisan bills to retire the penny have been introduced to make the decision permanent and legally binding.
The penny was first introduced in 1793, making it one of the first coins the country produced after establishing the U.S. Mint in 1792. Different from today’s penny featuring the “Union Shield,” the first-ever penny displayed a woman whose free-flowing hair represented liberty. It was at the same time when the penny was fully made of copper. Meanwhile, modern-day pennies are made from copper and zinc.
According to the U.S. Mint, approximately 3.2 billion pennies were minted in 2024, making it the most produced coin in the United States. For context, the U.S. Mint only manufactured a little over 5.6 billion coins in total last year. Right now, the U.S. Treasury accounts for 114 billion pennies in circulation within the country.
How will this decision impact your everyday transactions? Well, when pennies become few and far between, cash purchases will eventually be rounded to the nearest nickel.
The penny phase-out will commence in 2026 when the U.S. Mint will officially end the production of new pennies. However, it may take some time before you notice a difference in your cash transactions.