美國財政部計劃在明年年初停止生產一分錢

該公告首先由《華爾街日報》報導。

The U.S. Treasury Department plans to halt production of the penny by early next year, a spokesperson confirmed in an email to Marketplace. This announcement was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

發言人在一封電子郵件中證實，美國財政部計劃在明年年初停止生產一分錢。該公告首先由《華爾街日報》報導。

“The Treasury has made its final order of penny blanks this month and the United States Mint will continue to manufacture pennies while an inventory of penny blanks exists,” the spokesperson said.

發言人說：“本月財政部已作出了最終的一分錢空白訂單，而美國造幣廠將繼續製造便士，同時存在一分錢的庫存。”

The U.S. joins countries like Canada, Australia and the Netherlands in nixing the one-cent coin.

美國加入加拿大，澳大利亞和荷蘭等國家，削弱了單美分的硬幣。

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen small denominations disappear from circulation. The U.S. discontinued a half-cent coin in 1857, which didn’t have much of an impact, said Andrew Keinsley, an associate professor of economics at Weber State University, in a 2023 interview with Marketplace.

這並不是我們第一次看到小額婚姻因流通而消失。韋伯州立大學經濟學副教授安德魯·基因斯利（Andrew Keinsley）在接受Marketplace的訪談中在2023年接受經濟學副教授中說，美國在1857年停止了半美分的硬幣。

While the humble penny holds sentimental value for some, economists have long viewed them as a waste of resources, money and time.

儘管卑微的一分錢對某些人具有感性的價值，但經濟學家長期以來一直將他們視為浪費資源，金錢和時間。

The cost of making one is simply more than it’s worth. The U.S. Mint spends 3.69 cents to produce and distribute one penny, according to the bureau’s 2024 annual report. That’s up from 1.4 cents in 2015.

製作一個人的成本僅僅是價值的。根據該局的2024年年度報告，美國造幣廠花費3.69美分來生產和分發一分錢。這是2015年的1.4美分。

Eliminating the penny is expected to save $56 million a year, and the Treasury is planning to use the savings to help reduce the federal deficit, according to the spokesperson.

發言人說，消除一分錢預計每年將節省5600萬美元，財政部正計劃利用儲蓄來減少聯邦赤字。

“There are about 114 billion pennies currently in circulation in the U.S., but they are severely underutilized,” the spokesperson said.

發言人說：“美國目前大約有1,140億便士流通，但嚴重未被充分利用。”

For customers, trying to pluck them out of your wallet when you’re at the cashier gets cumbersome.

對於客戶來說，當您在收銀員時，試圖將其從錢包中摘下來。

“If you think about currency in different denominations, they’re really supposed to make transactions easier. And the penny no longer provides that,” said Daniel Soques, an economist at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington.

北卡羅來納大學威爾明頓大學的經濟學家丹尼爾·索克斯（Daniel Soques）說：“如果您考慮不同的貨幣，它們確實應該使交易變得更加容易。”

If the materials used to make pennies get expensive enough, black markets could theoretically pop up. You could melt them down for copper and zinc, then sell these commodities for higher prices, although it would be illegal, Keinsley said.

如果用來使便士變得足夠昂貴的材料，那麼從理論上講，黑市就可以彈出。基因斯利說，您可以將它們融化為銅和鋅，然後以更高的價格出售這些商品，儘管這是非法的。

If you’re worried about stores now rounding up the cost of your purchases, one economist’s research might assuage your fears.

如果您擔心現在的商店現在會增加購買成本，那麼一位經濟學家的研究可能會減輕您的恐懼。

Robert Whaples, an economics professor at Wake Forest University, analyzed transaction data from a convenience store chain located in multiple states, including Alabama, Georgia and Virginia.

Wake Forest University的經濟學教授Robert Whaples分析了來自阿拉巴馬州，佐治亞州和弗吉尼亞州在內的多個州的便利店連鎖店的交易數據。

If you took into account taxes and transactions involving multiple purchases, and then rounded to the nearest nickel, you would have to round down just as much as you round up, Whaples said.

Whaples說，如果您考慮了涉及多次購買的稅收和交易，然後將其舍入到最近的鎳，則必須與您圍捕一樣多。

So, based on his research, you might not have to worry about getting nickeled and dimed at the store.

因此，根據他的研究，您可能不必擔心在商店裡被鎳和昏迷。