The US May Be Ditching Its Penny

Grab your coin purse: The U.S. may be on the verge of ditching its penny.

The U.S. Treasury is reportedly set to stop putting new one-cent coins into circulation early next year, according to The Wall Street Journal, which could change the way you pay.

The Treasury made its final order of penny blanks this month, the WSJ reported, citing a spokesperson, meaning the Mint will only produce pennies until it runs out of blanks. The end of the penny will mean businesses will have to round up or down prices to the nearest five cents, the spokesperson also told the WSJ.

The Treasury and the U.S. Mint, which is responsible for producing the nation’s coins, did not immediately respond to Nexstar’s requests for comment.

Thursday’s report comes months after the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) set its sights on the penny and President Donald Trump called on the Treasury Department to stop minting new one-cent coins, saying they are “wasteful.”

It costs roughly 3.69 cents to make one penny, per the latest data from the U.S. Mint. Last year marked the 19th consecutive year that the penny (and the nickel) “remained above face value” when it comes to production costs.

Earlier this month, a bipartisan bill to halt penny production was introduced by Senators Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah). It was one of a handful of bills that have been brought forth since Trump’s comments on the one-cent coin.

“I’m pleased to see the Treasury Department taking a page from my ‘Make Sense, Not Cents Act’ to phase out the production of the penny,” Sen. Lee said in a statement shared with Nexstar. “Each penny costs four cents to make, so cutting this waste will save the American taxpayer over $85 million every year.”

“Ending penny production is the right thing to do, but let’s make sure we do it the right way,” said Sen. Merkley. “If President Trump is serious about ending this wasteful spending—with each penny costing 4 times more to mint than it’s worth—he should work with Congress to take up necessary legislation, like my bipartisan bill with Senator Mike Lee. It’s time to make sense, not cents.”

Under the Constitution, Congress is responsible for regulating the Federal Reserve and overseeing our money.

The U.S. wouldn’t be the first country to ditch its lowest-denomination coin. (It wouldn’t even be the first time we’ve stopped producing a coin.)

What happened when Canada ditched its penny?

Canada parted ways with its penny in the early 2010s for the same reasons the U.S. has expressed regarding its penny. At the time, however, it cost Canada 1.6 cents to produce one new penny, vastly less than what the U.S. is paying now, but enough to spur the government to do away with the coin.

The Royal Canadian Mint worked with financial institutions and charities to begin collecting the nation’s pennies, essentially putting the distribution process in reverse, Alex Reeves, then the Senior Manager of Communications for the Mint, told PBS News in 2014. Old pennies were turned in and melted down to extract their valuable metals.

Without a one-cent coin, cash transactions had to change. Cash purchases are now rounded to the nearest nickel: For instance, a $19.82 purchase becomes $19.80 while $19.83 becomes $19.85. Payments with checks or debit or credit cards are not rounded.

The U.S. appears likely to do the same, a Treasury spokesperson indicated to the Wall Street Journal.

Will pennies become valuable collector’s items?

The short answer is probably not.

Ten years after Canada stopped minting the penny, collectors said the novelty value of the coin did not skyrocket. Todd Sandham, owner of a coin and jewelry shop in Ontario, told Canadian outlet CTV News in 2023 that even someone who brought in a jar of pennies to sell would “get about a penny and a half for them.”

Experts at All About Coins in Salt Lake City recently told Nexstar’s KTVX they don’t foresee a spike in the value of Abraham Lincoln’s coin, either.

“I don’t think that we’re ever going to see a day where like a 2024 penny is going to be worth so much more,” store clerk Casey Hackford-Peer explained. “Maybe in 200, 300 years, but not in my lifetime.”

The penny will also remain legal tender.

Are there consequences of ending penny production?

Outside of rounding cash transactions, advocates for keeping the one-cent coin say there may be additional consequences of ditching the penny.

First is the practicality. While you’re likely using cash less