Say goodbye to a penny, the U.S. Treasury announces plans to phase out coins
The U.S. Treasury Department will cease the new penny circulation announced on Thursday in early 2026.
The cost of manufacturing pennies is nearly 4 cents, meaning their termination savings could exceed $50 million
President Donald Trump announced in February that he directed the Treasury Department to stop producing 1 cent coins
Late last week, the U.S. Treasury Department had already begun to eliminate a penny.
Earlier this month, the department set a final order for a cent blank, and the U.S. Mint will continue to produce 1 cent coins until the stock is used up, Journal Reports reported. At that time, no new pennies would enter circulation. If there is no longer enough pennies for daily cash transactions, businesses will have to surround or down to the nearest nickel.
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It is no surprise to announce this. Penns are costly to produce more than value, and Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump each called on the Treasury Department to stop production.
“For a long time, the United States has minted a few cents, which actually cost us 2 cents. It's so wasteful! I instructed my U.S. Treasury Secretary to stop producing new pennies. Let's remove the waste from a big power budget, even if it's a cent at a time.”
Trump actually emphasized this argument. According to the U.S. Mint’s 2024 annual report, it actually costs nearly 4 cents, every penny. According to the Wall Street Journal, the U.S. Mint is expected to save $56 million a year due to lower material costs.
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Congress has enacted rules on the production of currency and has the power to eliminate or stop coins. However, the Treasury Department told the Wall Street Journal it has the ability to stop producing new coins.
“That's just another example of our administration cutting waste for U.S. taxpayers and making the government more efficient for the American people,” a Treasury spokesman told CNN.