Retiring the Penny

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A PIECE OF HISTORY: 1909 was the first year the distinctive profile of Abraham Lincoln was added to the face of the single cent coin. This was done to honnor his 100th birthday. Photo courtesy of Wikiemedia commens.

By: Jonathon Gossett

Due to rising manufacturing costs, the penny is no longer in production. On November 12, 2025, the final penny was minted at the Philadelphia mint, ending as 232 year long dynasty.

The decision comes from President Donald Trump, who ordered the treasury to stop minting pennies back in February. His decsion follows the US Mint’s 2024 annual report, which stated that each penny cost 3.69 cents to make.

“For every penny that the United States government prints, we’re actually losing money. So, it’s a net cost to the federal government”, said Raymond Roberson, Director of the Mosbacher Institute for Trade, Economics and Public Policy at Texas A&M University.

While there are no more pennies being manufactured, there is no shortage of the single cent coin. According to the American Bankers Association, there is still an estimated 250 billion pennies in circulation, and they are still accepted as legal tender. However, the Federal Reserve’s Coin Terminals, facilities where business can exchange coinage, have stopped accepting and distributing pennies. This has led to businesses having to rely on customer circulated pennies and local supply shortages. Brandon Sheidan, Associate Professor of Economics at Elon university, spoke to USA Today about this.

“Some businesses are asking cash-paying customers to voluntarily round up for donations to avoid needing pennies. while other places are rounding down for everyone”, said Sheidan

 The US isn’t the first country to get rid of their lowest denomination coin. Our northern neighbor, Canada, stopped producing pennies in 2012. The United Kingdom paused production of two pence and two-pound coins for a decade back in 2020 due to their overabundance. Australia, New Zealand and Sweden have also cut their lowest value coins. The businesses in these countries round cash payments up or down to the closest 5-cent increment.

“Any merchant that accepts cash is grappling with this,” said Dylan Jeon, senior director of government relations with the National Retail Federation.

The problem with rounding to five cents is that several states and some cities do not allow businesses to round to the nearest nickel. Several interest and lobbying groups, including the National Retail Federation and the National association of Convenience Stores, sent a letter to congressional chairs of the Financial Services and Banking Committee asking for them to pass a law allowing businesses to round to the nearest nickel. Austen Jensen, the Retail Industry Leaders Association’s senior executive vice president for government affairs, spoke to USA Today about this need.

“Retailers are growing concerned that the penny shortage will adversely impact operations as we enter the busiest stretch of the shopping season”, said Jensen

As the role of technology grows in our daily lives, physical cash has begun to take a backseat to online payments. H.R.1270, a bill proposed by Arizona representative David Schweikert, is currently circulating in Congress and, if passed, it would halt the production of the nickel and require a government study to be done on the savings made by ceasing production of these coins and the effects that rounding to ten cent intervals has on commerce. It’s clear that the culture of physical payments is changing.

“We have no plans to go cashless in the future. However, it may impact smaller businesses, especially since there is a fee that Bankes charge for accepting cashless”, said Ryan Olkowski, Store Manager of Publix at the Shops of Silver Lakes.