The U.S. Treasury will strike its last penny early next year, ending a 233-year production run, yet the copper-colored coin will keep rattling in cash drawers for years as retailers gradually round transactions to the nearest nickel.
What Happened: There are about 114 billion pennies in circulation, stacked together, they would make a metal cube 13 stories tall. The Treasury says stopping penny production could still save $56 million a year, even after we use more nickels, since most of these pennies just sit unused in jars and drawers.
Each one-cent coin now costs 3.69 cents to manufacture, tripling its face value and saddling taxpayers with an $85 million loss in fiscal 2024, the U.S. Mint's annual report shows. President Donald Trump called the expense "wasteful" when he ordered Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to "rip the waste out," and bipartisan bills in both chambers quickly endorsed the move.
What Happens At The Register?
Retailers can keep accepting pennies because they remain legal tender, but once bank supplies dwindle many stores will round cash totals up or down to the nearest five cents. "Retailers' primary goal is serving customers and making this transition as seamless as possible," said Dylan Jeon of the National Retail Federation in a statement shared with CNN. Convenience stores, which handle 32 million cash purchases a day, expect "no real change" at first, noted Jeff Lenard of the National Association of Convenience Stores, according to the report.
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What Did Other Countries Do?
Canada stopped minting its penny in 2012. Cash is now rounded but the coin "retains its value indefinitely," Ottawa's finance ministry says. In Australia, 1 and 2 cent coins vanished in 1992 and prices have been rounded to 5 cents ever since. Other nations, from New Zealand to Slovakia, have taken similar steps without noticeable inflationary bumps.
Why It Matters: According to a report by ABC, pro-penny lobby Americans for Common Cents argues that killing the cent just shifts losses to the nickel, which now costs nearly 14 cents to make. Still, Treasury analysts say the nickel spike is overstated and the penny's demise nets a positive balance sheet overall. Consumer groups also worry about "rounding taxes," but studies in Canada found no meaningful price creep.
Treasury's plan phases out blank orders this summer and stops new coin circulation by early 2026. Electronic and card payments will still settle to the exact cent. For coin collectors -- and speculators -- the penny's curtain call has already sparked price spikes in select mint years.
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