In February 2025, President Donald Trump instructed the Treasury Department to stop producing pennies<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cFor far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents. This is so wasteful!<\/a>\u201d he wrote at the time.<\/p>\n The House approved the bill<\/a>, dubbed the Common Cents Act, without a roll call vote \u2013 a procedure reserved for the least controversial measures.<\/p>\n Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., who managed the floor debate, called the legislation an effort to \u201csave taxpayer dollars and modernize a part of our currency system that no longer makes economic sense.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe numbers speak for themselves,\u201d he said, erroneously stating that each penny costs $3.69 to make. \u201cWe have to be practical.\u201d<\/p>\n Traditionally, lawmakers from Illinois, the Land of Lincoln, have resisted efforts to end production of a coin that has borne Abraham Lincoln\u2019s likeness since 1909<\/a>. That was the first U.S. coin to feature a president\u2019s image.<\/p>\n But inflation has taken a big bite over the decades. It would take 37 cents today to equal the value of a penny in 1909.<\/p>\n Other countries have taken similar measures to discontinue low denomination coins. Canada, for instance, ceased production of its penny in 2012<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Senate still has to approve the measure.<\/p>\n Arizona produces about 70% of the nation\u2019s copper but discontinuing the penny has had little impact on the mining industry or copper prices<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Pennies minted since 1982 have been primarily made of zinc and contain only around 2.5% copper by weight<\/a>, and they account for only a small fraction of U.S. copper demand.<\/p>\n The bill would authorize the Treasury to adopt a lower-cost, zinc-based nickel to \u201censure that increased nickel demand is not mitigating the savings due to the elimination of the penny,\u201d Hill said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Each nickel cost 13.78 cents to produce<\/a> in 2024, according to the Mint.<\/p>\n \u201cNickels aren\u2019t exactly a bargain either,\u201d Hill said.<\/p>\n Under the bill approved Tuesday, pennies already in circulation would remain legal tender and electronic transactions would continue to be conducted to the exact cent.\u00a0<\/p>\n Cash purchases, though, would be rounded to the nearest 5 cents when exact change isn\u2019t available.<\/p>\n The Mint could still produce pennies as collector\u2019s items.<\/p>\n
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