美國造幣廠將停止生產便士

在一個歷史性的轉變中，可以標誌著數百年曆史的美國袋裝零錢的結束，美國造幣廠將停止生產新的便士

The US Mint will cease production of new pennies once its current stock of blank coin discs runs out, a Treasury Department official has told the Associated Press.

一位財政部官員告訴美聯社，一旦其當前的空白硬幣盤耗盡，美國造幣廠將停止生產新的便士。

The move follows a sharp spike in production costs — the Treasury says it now costs nearly 4 cents to make a single penny, with total annual savings from halting production expected to hit $56 million.

此舉是在生產成本急劇上激增的 - 財政部表示，現在要賺到一分錢的價格將近4美分，預計停止生產的每年節省預計將達到5600萬美元。

First minted in 1793, the penny has been part of American history for over 230 years, and its potential demise comes after President Donald Trump announced his intention to eliminate the coin earlier this year.

一分錢在1793年首次鑄造，一直是美國歷史的一部分，已有230多年的歷史，並且在唐納德·特朗普總統宣布打算今年早些時候取消硬幣的意圖之後，其潛在的滅亡。

“For far too long, the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents. This is so wasteful!” Trump posted on Truth Social in February.

“很久以來，美國已經鑄造了幾分錢，這實際上使我們花費了2美分。這是如此浪費！”特朗普在二月份發布了《真理社交》。

“I have instructed my Secretary of the U.S. Treasury to stop producing new pennies. They are largely useless, people don’t want them, and we can save a lot of money by eliminating the penny.”

“我指示我的美國財政部長停止生產新的便士。他們在很大程度上沒有用，人們不想要它們，我們可以通過消除一分錢來節省很多錢。”

There are still an estimated 114 billion pennies in circulation — worth $1.14 billion — but Treasury officials say they are vastly underutilized and rarely used in daily transactions.

據估計，流通的140億便士 - 價值11.4億美元 - 但財政官員表示，他們的日常交易中很少使用，很少使用。

Despite being the most produced coin in the US Mint’s inventory — accounting for over 3.2 billion units minted last year — the penny has faced growing criticism for its poor return on investment and limited usefulness. By comparison, even the nickel, which costs nearly 14 cents to mint, has drawn criticism for its inefficiency.

儘管是美國造幣廠的庫存中生產最多的硬幣（佔去年鑄造的32億輛），但一分錢因其投資回報率差和有限的有用性而面臨越來越多的批評。相比之下，即使是薄荷的成本近14美分的鎳也因其效率低下引起了批評。

However, the penny also has its defenders, who argue that it’s still useful in charity drives, price rounding, and has a certain nostalgic value. They also note that the penny represents a more modest production loss than higher-value coins.

但是，一分錢也有其捍衛者，他們認為它在慈善機構驅動器，價格上漲並具有一定的懷舊價值中仍然有用。他們還指出，一分錢代表著比高價值硬幣更適度的生產損失。

Congress, which controls the specifications of US coinage, has not yet passed any legislation to permanently kill the penny, although two bipartisan bills to do so were introduced earlier this year.

控制美國造幣規格的國會尚未通過任何立法來永久殺死一分錢，儘管今年早些時候提出了兩項​​兩黨法案。

But under US law, the Treasury Secretary is empowered to mint and issue coins “in amounts the secretary decides are necessary” to meet the country’s needs — a clause now being used to phase out the penny.

但是根據美國的法律，財政部長有權授予鑄造和發行硬幣，以“秘書決定是必要的”來滿足國家的需求 - 現在，該條款被用來淘汰一分錢。