Stop making cents: U.S. Mint strikes ahead with plans to kill penny

The Trump administration says making cents does not make sense anymore.

The U.S. Mint has made its closing order of penny blanks and plans to cease producing the coin when these run out, a Treasury Department official confirmed on Thursday (May 22, 2025).

This transfer comes as the price of making pennies has elevated markedly, by upward of 20% in 2024, based on the Treasury.

By stopping the penny’s manufacturing, the Treasury expects an instantaneous annual financial savings of $56 million in decreased materials prices, based on the official, who was not authorised to debate the matter publicly and spoke on situation of anonymity to preview the information.

In February, President Donald Trump introduced that he had ordered his administration to stop manufacturing of 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 at the moment in a publish on his Truth Social web site. “I have instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies.”

There are about 114 billion pennies at present in circulation within the United States — that is $1.14 billion — however they’re enormously underutilised, the Treasury says.

The penny was one of many first cash made by the US Mint after its institution in 1792.

The nation’s treasury secretary has the authority to mint and problem cash “in amounts the secretary decides are necessary to meet the needs of the United States”.

Advocates for ditching the penny cite its excessive manufacturing price — virtually 4 cents per penny now, based on the US Mint — and restricted utility. Fans of the penny cite its usefulness in charity drives and relative discount in manufacturing prices in contrast with the nickel, which prices virtually 14 cents to mint.

The Wall Street Journal first reported the information.

Pennies are the most well-liked coin made by the US Mint, which reported making 3.2 billion of them final 12 months. That’s greater than half of all the brand new cash it made final 12 months.

Congress, which dictates forex specs reminiscent of the dimensions and metallic content material of cash, might make Mr. Trump’s order everlasting via regulation. But previous congressional efforts to ditch the penny have failed.

Two bipartisan payments to kill the penny completely had been launched this 12 months.

Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., launched the Make Sense Not Cents Act this month.

In April, Reps. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., and Robert Garcia, D-Calif., together with Sens. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., launched the Common Cents Act.

Jay Zagorsky, professor of markets, public coverage, and regulation at Boston University, stated that whereas he helps the transfer to finish penny manufacturing, Congress should embody language in any proposed laws to require rounding up in pricing, which can get rid of the demand for pennies.

Mr. Zagorsky, who lately printed a e book known as “The Power of Cash: Why Using Paper Money is Good for You and Society,” stated in any other case, merely ditching the penny will solely enhance demand for nickels, that are much more costly, at 14 cents to provide.

“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.”

Mark Weller, govt director of the Americans for Common Cents group — which conducts analysis and supplies info to Congress and the Executive Branch on the worth and advantages of the penny — says, “There has been an evolution over the past six months that inevitably the production of the penny will be halted”.

His group advocates for the U.S. to seek out methods to cut back the price of producing nickel, particularly since it will likely be extra in demand as soon as the penny is completely eradicated from circulation.

“It’s incumbent on Treasury to come up with a cheaper way to make the nickel,” Weller stated. “Let’s make sure we’re making our coins as least expensively as possible and maintaining the option to use cash in transactions.”