{"id":278905,"date":"2025-11-12T20:41:14","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T20:41:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/278905\/"},"modified":"2025-11-12T20:41:14","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T20:41:14","slug":"americas-penny-production-ends-after-more-than-230-years-due-to-costs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/278905\/","title":{"rendered":"America’s penny production ends after more than 230 years due to costs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The U.S. Treasury Department will mint its last penny this afternoon. FOX Business’ Edward Lawrence with the latest.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the end of an era for America\u2019s smallest coin.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent<\/a> will strike the nation\u2019s final penny in a ceremonial minting on Wednesday, marking the official end of penny production.<\/p>\n

The penny has been part of the U.S. currency since the very beginning. It was first authorized under the Coinage Act of 1792.<\/p>\n

HOW TRUMP MIGHT GET RID OF THE PENNY \u2014 AND WHAT COULD COME NEXT FOR YOUR POCKET CHANGE<\/a><\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

It costs nearly four pennies to make one penny, according to Treasury’s recent estimates. (Justin Sullivan\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

For more than 230 years, the penny has circulated through American piggy banks and cash registers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But rising production costs<\/a> \u2013 each penny now costs nearly 4 cents to make \u2013 and shifts in consumer behavior, such as the rise of digital payments, have made it impractical to keep producing them.<\/p>\n

In February, President Donald Trump<\/a> announced plans to halt the production of pennies.<\/p>\n

“For far too long, the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “This is so wasteful! I have instructed my Secretary of the U.S. Treasury to stop producing new pennies.”<\/p>\n

TRUMP’S PENNY POLICY: IT MAKES SENSE TO STOP MAKING CENTS<\/a><\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

A worker inspects finished penny coins at the United States Mint in Denver, Colorado. (Jim West\/UCG\/Universal Images Group\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Each year, pennies account for a significant share of U.S. coin production. In fiscal year 2024, they made up 57% of the Mint\u2019s 5.61 billion circulating coins.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But with an estimated 300 billion pennies already in existence, far more than needed, the Treasury determined it was time to stop minting new ones.<\/p>\n

The move is expected to save roughly $56 million per year in production costs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE<\/a><\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

Halting penny production is expected to save roughly $56 million per year in costs. (Andrew Harrer\/Bloomberg\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Pennies can still be used to make purchases, be deposited at banks<\/a> or kept in collections. They aren\u2019t being banned or devalued, the government just won\u2019t be minting new ones.<\/p>\n

Pennies are currently minted at the Philadelphia and Denver facilities, and each coin can circulate for about 30 years before wearing out, meaning there will be no shortage of them anytime soon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The U.S. Treasury Department will mint its last penny this afternoon. FOX Business’ Edward Lawrence with the latest.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":278906,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[45,49,48,46],"class_list":{"0":"post-278905","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-economy"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=278905"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278905\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/278906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=278905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=278905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=278905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}