The Trump administration has announced a significant change regarding the production of the penny, indicating that the U.S. Mint will halt the production of the 1-cent coin once its current stock runs out.
A confirmed Treasury Department official disclosed this plan on Thursday, explaining that the decision comes in light of the rising cost of producing pennies, which is projected to increase by more than 20% in 2024.
The halt in penny production is expected to yield immediate savings of around $56 million annually, primarily through reduced material costs. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, provided insights ahead of the announcement, which highlights the financial burden associated with minting the penny.
In February, President Donald Trump publicly ordered his administration to end the production of the penny, labeling it as wasteful given that the cost to produce a penny now exceeds its face value by a significant margin.
On his Truth Social platform, Trump emphasized the inefficiency of maintaining a coin that costs more than it is worth: “For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents. This is so wasteful! I have instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies.”
Currently, there are approximately 114 billion pennies in circulation across the United States, totaling about $1.14 billion. However, these coins are rarely utilized in daily transactions, prompting discussions around their future.
The U.S. Mint, established in 1792, has a long history of producing the penny, which remains its most minted coin, with the Mint reporting the creation of 3.2 billion pennies last year—over half of all new coins produced during that period.
While advocates for ending penny production point to the high costs associated with minting, which has now reached nearly 4 cents per penny, supporters of keeping the penny argue that it plays an essential role in certain charitable endeavors and is still more economical to produce compared to the nickel, which costs nearly 14 cents to mint.
The Wall Street Journal first broke the news regarding the impending cessation of penny production.
Although Congress holds the power to make Trump’s directive permanent by legislating the end of the penny, previous attempts to abolish the coin have been unsuccessful. Two bipartisan bills have been introduced this year to address the issue: the Make Sense Not Cents Act, introduced by Senators Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and the Common Cents Act, proposed by Representatives Lisa McClain, R-Mich., and Robert Garcia, D-Calif., along with Senators Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.
Jay Zagorsky, a professor at Boston University specializing in markets, public policy, and law, voiced his support for the move to halt penny production.
However, he stressed the importance of including provisions in any proposed legislation to require rounding in pricing, which would effectively eliminate the demand for pennies. Zagorsky cautioned that if the penny is removed without such measures, it could lead to increased demand for nickels, which are even more expensive to produce.
“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,” he remarked.
Mark Weller, the executive director of the Americans for Common Cents, a group dedicated to researching and promoting the value of the penny, acknowledged the growing consensus that production of the penny is nearing an end.
Weller called for a focus on reducing the production costs of nickels, acknowledging that the demand for them would likely increase once the penny is fully phased out.
“It’s incumbent on Treasury to come up with a cheaper way to make the nickel,” Weller asserted, emphasizing the importance of keeping cash transactions viable and affordable.
Suderman reported from Richmond, Virginia.
image source from：https://www.denverpost.com/2025/05/22/death-of-the-penny/
