On November 12, the US Mint announced that, after 232 years, it had produced the country’s final penny. The Mint says it costs too much to make the coins and that few people actually use them anymore.
The US Mint is the part of the US government that makes coins. It is run by the US Department of the Treasury, which is led by Scott Bessent.
The penny, or one-cent coin, has been part of American money since the US first started making its own coins in 1792. The coin is worth 1/100 of a US dollar. Pennies were originally made of copper. But copper is expensive. So now the coin is made mostly of zinc, with just a thin copper coating.
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Last Wednesday, the US Mint announced that, after 232 years, it had produced the country’s final penny. The Mint says it costs too much to make the coins. Above, US Treasurer Brandon Beach holds the last penny stamped at the US Mint in Philadelphia on November 12.
The penny is the most common coin in the US, but it is also the least valuable. Some people don’t even bother to pick pennies up when they drop them.
In February, US President Donald Trump said that making pennies was “wasteful”. He said he had told Mr. Bessent to stop making the coins.
Though the value of a penny is just 1 cent, last year, it actually cost the US Mint 3.69 cents to make each penny. That’s because of the cost of the metals.
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A penny is worth just 1 cent, but last year it cost the Mint 3.69 cents to make each one. That’s because of the cost of the metals used. Above, the “die” or stamp used to make the last pennies, next to a container of blank disks that can be pressed into coins.
Those little costs add up. Last year, the Mint produced 3.2 billion pennies. Now it says it expects to save about $56 million a year by not producing pennies.
The Mint is celebrating the 232-year history of the coin with some special pennies. The last five pennies it made were marked with the Omega (Ω) symbol. Omega is the last letter in the Greek alphabet, and is often used to represent the end of something. These pennies will be auctioned off later this year. An expert on coins says that each of the special pennies could be worth over $1 million.
(Source: US Mint.)
What Happens Now?
It’s still fine to use pennies to buy things in the US. But the Mint will no longer be making more of them.
Already, that seems to be causing trouble for some stores. Many are running low on pennies. Part of the problem is that the coins have such a low value that many people don’t bother to use them.
Still, some people think it’s a mistake to get rid of the coin. They’re afraid stores will use the move as an excuse to raise prices.
(Source: Jason Deines, via Pixels.)
It’s very common for prices in the US to end in “.99”. For example, instead of costing $5, an item might cost $4.99. But without pennies, prices like that can’t be paid with cash.
That means prices will need to be rounded (shifted) to the nearest five cent mark. Some experts expect prices to remain about the same. They say some prices may go up slightly, and others may go down slightly.
Some people are wondering if the government might also stop making nickels. The Mint loses even more money on each nickel than it did on each penny. Last year, each of the five-cent coins cost the Mint about 13.8 cents to make.
Did You Know…?
The Mint will also be auctioning off 232 sets of Omega pennies made specially for collectors. Each set will have two regular Omega pennies and one Omega penny that’s made out of gold.