US Mint in Philadelphia set to press final penny
Source: The Hill
11/12/25 12:53 PM ET
The U.S. Mint in Philadelphia is set to press its final penny on Wednesday in accordance with the Trump administrations February directive ending production for the 1-cent coin.
As the penny slowly runs out of circulation, businesses will have to round up or down prices to the nearest five cents to provide customers change. However, the Treasury Department expects to save $56 million per year on materials by ceasing to produce pennies, according to The Associated Press.
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. Lets rip the waste out of our great nations budget, even if its a penny at a time, Trump wrote in a Truth Social post earlier this year.
A penny costs roughly 3.69 cents to make. Earlier this year, Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) introduced a bipartisan bill to halt penny production.
Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5602167-us-mint-ends-penny-production/
QueerDuck
(652 posts)Or will they be devalued right away and become little more than decorative collector items?
woodsprite
(12,524 posts)
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Pinterest shows a lot of floors, tables, and countertops. I'd have to do one with random placement. I'd probably get a pattern all finished then realize I messed up counting, which is the same reason I don't do big cross stitch projects
QueerDuck
(652 posts)Thank you for finding and sharing that!
Luciferous
(6,524 posts)BWdem4life
(2,859 posts)they could be sold as scrap metal. Zinc and copper are more valuable than the actual penny.
QueerDuck
(652 posts)I wonder (I'm sure I could find it online) if the US is the last country to discontinue its "penny" (and equivalent) coin.
I wish our dollar coin was smaller... making it more useful (but a frog wishes it had wings... so that's not going to happen).
RazorbackExpat
(768 posts)in US currency is still considered legal tender.
QueerDuck
(652 posts)had a limited life span after the changes went into effect. Those who failed to act by redeeming them (or spending them) ended up losing the value of the coins.
RazorbackExpat
(768 posts)For example. gold coins were demonetized in 1933 but remonetized in 1965. Trade Dollars were demonetized for a time in the 1880s because they were minted with cheap silver for trade with China and not for domestic use. Today, both of those coin groups are worth far in excess of their face value.
At one time, pennies were legal tender only up to 10 cents. Supposedly, they are worth full value today. However, who knows what will happen if Trump is allowed to continue to issue executive orders against established US law
EuterpeThelo
(126 posts)Now it will have to be at least a nickel for your thoughts.
LudwigPastorius
(13,833 posts)Nickel Lane is in my ears and in my eyes...
Old Crank
(6,426 posts)They cost nearly 14 cents each.
Here in Europe we have 1 cent, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 cent coins. Plus the 1 and 2 euro coins.
The smallest bill is a 5.
MaineBlueBear
(388 posts)if they really want to save money.
We are one of the few nations that issue paper currency for their base denomination.
BumRushDaShow
(163,470 posts)and the public generally rejected them (they were used quite a bit in vending machines - I know here in Philly a bunch of years ago, that is what was given out in change from many of the parking lot kiosks) - probably because the size was too close to that of a quarter.
MaineBlueBear
(388 posts)And launching a dollar coin at the same time like they did in Canada in the late 80's.
BumRushDaShow
(163,470 posts)
(the above one printed during 45's first term)
The problem with something like that is obvious (even though that denomination has been around for well over a century)!
twodogsbarking
(16,817 posts)While it may have cost 4 cents to produce a penny they were used thousands of times. Divide 4 cents by the number of times used and the number is far right of the decimal.
Deminpenn
(17,182 posts)M to mint pennies. Talk about being pennywise and pound foolish.
rickford66
(6,014 posts)hunter
(40,199 posts)It'll buy you safe secure comfortable housing, hot showers, self-service laundry, healthy meals, and a pint of Guinness.
And everyone gets at least a dollar a day whether they are employed or not.
Inflation is eliminated by taxing affluent and wealthy people at steeply progressive rates. The people who benefit the most from our society ought to pay the most for its maintenance.
In that universe a penny is worth something.
In our universe inflation is caused by the affluent and wealthy people who don't like paying taxes; people who are oblivious to or even relish the misery of others.